By Priya Raghuvanshi

Copyright timesnownews

Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG division of Reliance Industries, is gearing up to make a splash in India’s massive packaged water market with its new low-cost brand, Campa Sure. The company is adopting a regional partnership model, targeting both reach and governance, in an attempt to shake up a highly fragmented Rs 30,000 crore category. “We are in the process of collaborating with and signing partnerships with multiple regional packaged water firms for bottling and to ensure governance standards for smaller brands,” said T Krishnakumar, director of Reliance Consumer Products. Strategic Partnerships, Not Acquisitions Instead of buying out smaller players, Reliance aims to partner with around two dozen regional bottlers, beginning in northern India. These tie-ups will focus on bottling, technology integration, and branding collaborations, enabling a quicker rollout and maintaining quality benchmarks across the board. Krishnakumar clarified, “The company is not planning acquisitions of partners.” The partnerships come at a time when India’s bottled water market is witnessing rapid growth and increasing concerns around counterfeit products. “By partnering with regional and local manufacturers, we can ensure benchmark standards, democratise the category, and help curb the growing threat of counterfeit bottled water products,” he added. Disruption Through Price Campa Sure’s biggest differentiator lies in its aggressive pricing strategy. Starting at Rs 5 for a 250 ml bottle, the brand undercuts major players like Bisleri, Coca-Cola’s Kinley, and PepsiCo’s Aquafina by 20–30 per cent across larger pack sizes. A 1-litre Campa Sure bottle is priced at Rs 15, compared to the Rs 20 typically charged by the incumbents. The 2-litre variant is priced at Rs 25, offering another price-conscious alternative in a market dominated by higher-priced national brands. Learning from Campa Cola’s Soft Drink Playbook Reliance is borrowing a page from its earlier Campa Cola soft drink strategy, where it launched ₹10 bottles, prompting rivals to rethink their pricing or introduce smaller SKUs. This time, the strategy is further strengthened by a favourable tax shift. The September 22 rollout of GST 2.0 lowered GST on packaged water from 18 per cent to 5 per cent, enabling all players to cut prices, an opportunity Reliance is seizing with Campa Sure. “Across all businesses, we will try to ensure that we keep pricing, which is relevant for the consumer. For water, the approach is just not a tactical move or to disturb the market,” said Krishnakumar. Multi-Brand Play for a Multi-Channel Market While Campa Sure is the value-focused brand, Reliance also sells another water product under its Independence staples brand, which is positioned at a higher price point. The dual-brand approach is designed to cater to different distribution channels and consumer segments. “We believe we need to have multiple brands for accessing the market, as water is sold in multiple channels and each channel is different from the other,” Krishnakumar explained. As Reliance leverages local networks and pricing power to enter the bottled water business, all eyes will be on how incumbents respond to this bold new entrant in an already crowded market.