India’s competition watchdog has waved through Kandhari Global Beverages’ acquisition of a set of assets from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages.

In a brief statement issued yesterday (22 April), the Competition Commission of India said it had approved the deal between the two Coca-Cola bottlers, which had been drawn up earlier this year.

Kandhari Global Beverages supplies and distributes products for The Coca-Cola Company in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

The group is buying Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages’ (HCCB) assets northern Gujarat and Diu.

Kandhari Global Beverages has factories in states including Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Last month, Varinder Pal Singh Kandhari, the managing director of Kandhari Global Beverages, reportedly indicated the company’s ambitions to expand outside India.

“We do look forward to being global someday, i.e., beyond the boundaries of India, if there’s an opportunity that ever comes up from the Coca-Cola Company,” Kandhari was quoted as saying by business outlet Mint. “As of now, whatever they had to re-franchise they have. But there could be other opportunities coming up.”

In December, The Coca-Cola Co. agreed to sell a 40% stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings, the owner of HCCB, to Jubilant Bhartia Group.

With 14 factories across ten Indian states, HCCB manufactures and sells 37 products across eight brands, including soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Thums Up and Sprite.

December also saw HCCB offloaded its bottling operations in the Indian state of Jharkhand to Moon Beverages.

At the start of last year, the group sold three bottling operations to SLMG Beverages, Moon Beverages and Kandhari Global Beverages. The latter snapped up assets in Rajasthan.