Pasakha (South Bhutan), Feb. 6: Coca-Cola has set foot in Bhutan.

The Atlanta-based beverage behemoth has set up a bottling plant in the Himalayan kingdom in association with Bhutan Beverages Company Limited (BBCL) at Pasakha.

The Coke move is aimed at upstaging rival Pepsi, which has a market in Bhutan, north Bengal and the Northeast.

At the inaugural ceremony here today, Coca-Cola India president Alex Von Behr said the new plant would cater to consumers in Bhutan, apart from north Bengal areas and even to markets in Jharkhand and Orissa.

Set up at an estimated cost of around Rs 38.7 crore, the plant would be a feather in the cap for the Tashi group of companies- which owns BBCL.

“It is indeed a big leap for Coca-Cola to have finally entered Bhutan on the basis of a tie-up. Although the Bhutan market is not so big, the plant would serve consumer interests in the northeastern and some other adjacent areas in neighbouring India,” Von Behr told reporters here today.

Coca-Cola’s sales in the Bhutan market is pegged at around three lakh cases per annum in the carbonated drinks sector.

Statistics show Bhutan is the only region in the Indian division where Coke trails Pepsi. The Indian division comprises the Maldives and Bhutan, besides India.

In India, Coca-Cola enjoys a market share of around 39 per cent compared to rival Pepsi’s 23.5 per cent. Official said that in Maldives too, Coca-Cola controls around 80 per cent of the total soft drinks market share.

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Private Limited regional operations director Jaspal Singh said: “The Bhutan plant would also cater to consumers in Jharkhand and Orissa. Production capacities at our Guwahati and Jorhat plants fall far short of the market demand in the region. That accounts for setting up a franchisee partnership in Bhutan.”

Tshenchok Thinley, managing director of BBCL, said: “The plant has serious business implications for us since we have entered into a franchisee partnership with a company of Coca-Cola’s stature.”

The new unit will have a separate PET plant with a production capacity of 110 bottles per minute. It will also produce 300 returnable glass bottles (RGB) every minute.

Coke officials, however, made it clear they had not invested in the Bhutan plant. “It is not a company-owned factory. We will offer our skills and allied expertise in the sales and distribution networking,” Singh said.