Bareilly, March 19 :    Bareilly, March 19:  Coca-Cola India achieved break-even in December last year, according to Alex von Behr, CEO and president of the cola giant's Indian operations. Von Behr, who was here to inaugurate a new PET bottle line for its franchisee-owned bottling plant Brindavan Beverages yesterday, said the company had so far invested about $ 840 million in its India operations. In India, Coca-Cola has 15 franchisee-owned bottling plants and 33 company-owned bottling plants. The new PET bottle line for Coca-Cola, set up at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore, got rolling at the Brindavan Beverages Plant here yesterday. This takes the total investment to Rs 65 crore in this plant which is owned by S.N. Ladhani, the franchisee who set up the plant four years back. The new line which will make PET bottles of 500ml, 1.5 litre and 2 litre for all carbonated soft drink brands of Coca-Cola, has a capacity of producing 4000 bottles per hour. The plant is also planning to start production of Kinley, the water brand of Coca-Cola, this season in all pack sizes. A similar PET bottle line is to be put up by the Ladhani group in either Faizabad or Lucknow. The four Ladhani brothers own as many Coca-Cola plants in Uttar Pradesh. The plant at Agra, owned by Gulab Ladhani, is the first Coke franchisee plant in India set up when the cola giant re-entered the country in 1993. S.N. Ladhani is also opening a water production facility in Bangalore within a few days. Recently Coca-Cola slashed the prices of its 1.5 litre and 2 litre PET bottles from Rs 43 to Rs 38, and from Rs 50 to Rs 43 respectively. Von Behr said, 'Affordability is a key factor for growth and the slashing of PET bottle prices and the introduction of 200 ml glass bottles are part of the move.' The Bareilly plant caters to Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and the adjoining areas. About 25 per cent of the total carbonated soft drink market of 30 million cases belongs to PET bottles, said S.N. Ladhani, managing director of Brindavan Beverages. Von Behr refused to say anything on plans to divest its stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), its downstream venture which is the holding company for the company-owned bottling ventures.