Ban On Coca Cola And PepsiCo Product In Tamilnadu

Recently a ban is imposed on the sale of Coca-cola and Pepsico products in Tamilnadu. It will work in effect from March 1st. The beverage industries will incur huge loss after the ban. It may worth about 1400 crores. The two major trade association of Tamilnadu Vanigar Sangam and Tamilnadu Traders Federation have told their members not to sell any Coca-Cola and PepsiCo product from 1st of the march. The reason being exploitation of the water reservoir of the state which leads to scarcity of water. While the farmers face major problems like drought and the total production of the state decreases. The main water source is Cauvery or Mullaperiyar which is being unavailable for them. They are also deprived of water from Thamirabarani.

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Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are the major companies which occupy most of the beverage market in India. The bottling factory in Tamilnadu is run by Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages and PepsiCo has six plants in India. In order to protest the ban, Arvind Verma, secretary general of Indian Beverage Association(IBA) said,”It is extremely unfair on part of certain individuals and organizations to propagate misinformation.”. It may prove to be detrimental to the image of the country. These are the large companies which make large investments and banning their product may affect the economy of India adversely.

First of all the trade unions don’t have the authority to ban the products. Hence they have asked their members not to sell any of the product which comes from these companies. Over 6000 small associations come under the federation and they will not sell any kind of sugary drink or salty product of these brand. Many of the laboratory report shows that these are hazardous to health and may cause harm to our body. In addition to it, tests show that these contain pesticides, hence not safe from health point of view. It is of government duty to stop the sale but as they are not showing any concern so the Federation decided to do so, as said by the head of the Tamil Nadu Traders Federation Vellaiyan.

On other hands, the Government is planning to impose a higher tax on these sugar-based drinks in the upcoming budget. It also applies for packed salty snacks such as chips. These control a major part of the market and its higher consumption is making people more prone to health related problems.

Now let’s see whether the trade union become successful in banning the products in the market or not.

Reference:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com