Thirst choice

New Delhi, July 2: Soft drinks company Coca-Cola India today officially announced that John Ustas has taken over as chief executive officer of the bottling operations in India.

Earlier, Ustas was the managing director of Coca-Cola Drikker AS, the Atlanta-based beverage company?s operations in Norway.

He will report directly to Steve Buffington, regional director of Latin America and Asia for bottling investment, the announcement said.

?This move will help strengthen our management team in India and appropriately position us to capture a new level of success in one of our most important long-term growth markets,? the company said.

Until now, Sanjiv Gupta, president of Coca-Cola India, was overseeing both the bottling operations and concentrate business.

With Ustas taking over, Gupta will only have to look after the concentrate business, oversee marketing and focus on maintaining relationships with bottlers.

Gupta is reported to be unhappy with the developments and speculation has swirled over the last few days that he will quit the beverage major.

Sources said Gupta was facing a hard time in framing the future strategy in India ever since Neville Isdell took over as the Coke?s worldwide boss last August.

The Coca-Cola announcement made no mention about Gupta?s future role in the Indian operations.

Sources confirmed that with the induction of Ustas, Gupta has now made up his mind to leave Coke?s Indian subsidiary. However, officially Gupta has not resigned and, therefore, still remains in charge.