India to be among top three markets of Coca-Cola in coming years: Global prez Murphy

New Delhi: Coca-Cola expects growth momentum to be robust in India this year and soon become one of its top three global markets, supported by the country's evolving retail landscape and resilient domestic demand, its Global President & CFO John Murphy said on Friday.

Indian market has a solid foundation, and the underlying consumer sentiment is quite robust, despite challenges faced by Coca-Cola here in 2025 due to weather-led disruptions, he added.

Coca-Cola has an overall very positive outlook for the Indian market, which is quite vibrant, and has a tremendous amount of energy, said Murphy.

"Notwithstanding how many items have come at us over the last couple of years, I think the underlying consumer sentiment overall is quite robust. There are some markets where that is not the case. But I think when I look at the year ahead, it's a pretty solid foundation from which we can look at," said Murphy in a selected media round table here.

India is the fifth-largest market for The Coca-Cola Company by volume, where it operates with its bottling arm Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) and several bottling partners.

When asked whether he sees India moving into the top three markets of Coca-Cola, Murphy said: "I think India is moving in the right direction".

Though 2025 was a challenging year for Coca-Cola in India, in which the beverage major faced a short summer season due to higher-than-normal monsoons. However, it expects momentum in 2026 to continue to be "very robust".

"And it has all of the underlying fundamentals to believe that it will be top 3 in the coming years," said Murphy.

According to Murphy, India, being one of the most important markets in our portfolio, has many ingredients to sustain robust growth over the coming years.

The government here, in the last 10 to 15 years, has taken a number of measures to stimulate consumption, such as investment in infrastructure, universal electrification, and digitisation of the economy.

"I think that's not a one-year or three-year or five-year journey; that's a long journey, and continuing to invest in those foundational areas to stimulate the economy, I think, is very important. Secondly, I think it's important to encourage investment and to encourage investment across multiple sectors," he noted.

Replying to a query on growth on e-Commerce and hyperlocal delivery platforms, Murphy said, "Digitisation of the economy is going to be a pretty significant tailwind for a business like ours".

Coca-Cola had completed the divestment of a 40 per cent stake in HCCB to Jubilant Bhartia Group last year.

About any possible IPO plans for HCCB, Murphy declined to comment.

Responding to a query on whether the company is looking at tuck-in acquisitions in India, Murphy said, "Bolt-on acquisitions can fill a need in the portfolio...We are always open to taking a look at that...

"We are evaluating projects in India...There is never a shortage of opportunities to look at in India, as scalability is not the problem...whether the brand has the wherewithal to be attractive. We have a team of people that are always looking at such opportunities around the world, including here in India," he said.

Globally, Coca-Cola has a strategy over the last 10 years to re-franchise some of the bottling territories, which were operated by the beverage major over the last couple of decades.

"What we are doing and what we have been doing is very consistent with an approach to continue to strengthen the franchise model to work closely with existing partners, and where it makes sense to welcome in new ones. India is a perfect example of where that strategy is playing out and playing out very well," he said.

In FY24, Coca-Cola divested bottling operations in Rajasthan, Bihar, North-East and parts of West Bengal to its existing bottlers. Its bottling arm, HCCBL, currently has 14 manufacturing locations, including two new greenfield plants.

Asked if there would be a stage where Coca-Cola will completely exit from such bottling operations and hand over the business to its franchise partners, Murphy said: "That is the destination".

However, he also added that there is no fixed date from Coca-Cola on it, but "eventually, that's the plan".

Over the trends of premiumisation in the Indian consumer market, Murphy said he sees it as a "very attractive one" as consumers are willing to pay more. It will continue to add newer products under its Schweppes brand.

However, the local team plans to introduce more international brands here, which are typically sold in developed markets.