Tata group’s tryst with bottled water

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Editor's note: On 24 November, Ramesh Chauhan, chairman of Bisleri International, told ET Now that he is finalizing a deal with the Tata group to sell the company. The same day, he told CNBC TV18 that the deal wasn’t done yet and talks were on. Subsequently, he said that he wasn’t going to divest the company entirely and may retain at least a 10% stake. The Tatas, in contrast, didn’t give much away, saying they are in talks with Chauhan and several others for an acquisition. A deal may be some distance away, but the Tata group’s interest in India’s leading packaged water maker is in itself significant. After starting out with branded tea nearly five decades ago, the consumer goods business of the group, spearheaded by Tata Consumer Products Ltd, has picked up pace only in the last decade. After a string of acquisitions and consolidation of the consumer products businesses of Tata Chemicals and Tata Global Beverages under it, TCPL’s domestic consumer goods business adds up to just Rs 7,914 crore as of 2021-22. It doesn’t figure among the top …