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Coca-Cola and Pepsi Co., the cola giants are gearing up for a new battle in India; energy drinks. Coca-Cola is planning to launch a new energy drink in India by the end of 2008. Recently, Coca-Cola bought 30% stake in Tata group’s Energy Brands. On the other hand, PepsiCo Holdings India Pvt. Ltd. is also planning to introduce their energy drink.

The Indian energy drink market is not so big like soft-drinks but it has good potential. Currently, two brands are dominating the energy drink market; Red Bull and Power Horse. A Coca-Cola spokes person said that the company is continuously evaluating its product portfolio to provide its consumers with the right beverage for every occasion.

Business Standard reports:

Some of the energy drink brands from Coca-Cola's global stable include Full-throttle, Burn, Samurai, Tab energy and Glaceau vitaminenergy. Its energy drinks claim to contain ingredients such as ginseng extract, guarana extract, caffeine and B vitamins.

Some of PepsiCo's brands include Mountain Dew energy drink and Sobe. Currently, PepsiCo is marketing Gatorade, the world's largest sports drink brand that offers re-hydration benefits and carbohydrate energy.

In 2001, Cocal-Cola started to market an energy drink named Shock in India, but it did not do well. 

The energy drinks fall under functional beverage. According to Frost & Sullivan, currently, the functional beverage market of India is small but it will triple in the next six years to over Rs.16000 million. As urbanization is going on and people’s live are changing, demand for sports and energy drinks will go up.

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