CHENNAI/NEW DELHI - A historic local cola brand is being revived by Indian industrial behemoth Reliance, which intends to use its extensive retail network, lower prices, and capitalize on nationalist sentiment to compete with Pepsi and Coca-Cola in a crucial market..

Reliance, a company owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, debuted redesigned Campa drinks this month. These sugary sodas were once widely available in India during the 1970s and 1980s but were eventually phased out as the U.S. giants expanded quickly in a liberalizing economy.

In India's soft drink market, which Euromonitor estimates to be worth $4.6 billion and is expected to grow 5% annually until 2027, Mukesh Ambani is attempting to compete with Pepsi and Coca-Cola. The attempts of other businessmen to compete head-to-head with the beverage titans were unsuccessful. Ambani intends to start its own factories or joint ventures to produce Campa and sell the soda in motels, dining establishments, and on airplanes. After purchasing the brand last year for $2.7 million, Campa's production is currently outsourced. Reliance has the resources and reach to compete against them with a regional brand with a strong sentimental appeal.

The business is significantly reducing in-store prices. According to a Reuters check, a two-litre Campa-Cola bottle costs 49 rupees (60 U.S. cents) in stores, which is close to 50% less than the label price and about a third less than 2.25-litre Coke and Pepsi variants. While Pepsi starts at 12 rupees, the smallest bottles of Campa Cola and Coke are both 10 rupees.

"The price will be disruptive across the board," the source claimed, adding that Reliance was in talks with at least three teams to become Campa's refreshment partner and was preparing a massive advertising campaign for the upcoming IPL cricket tournament.

Due to the confidentiality of the strategy, the person did not want to be named. Reliance declined to comment, and Pepsi stated that it has a policy of not commenting on the competition.

Coca-Cola stated that it had largely maintained the prices of its small bottles since last year and was concentrating on growing distribution. It stated that the introduction of new competitors "Having new players in the market presents a great opportunity for investments to develop the market further,"

As part of its new consumer goods push, Reliance, India's largest retailer, will provide Campa to its 2,500 grocery outlets and thousands of smaller non-network stores. Reliance has set an internal goal of generating $6.5 billion in annual revenues within five years of this push.

In addition, the business has a grocery shopping app and a wholesale division that it uses to sell Campa products to 500,000 mom-and-pop shops.

T. Krishnakumar, an executive who held various leadership positions at Coca-Cola for almost 17 years, is the man behind Reliance's foray into the cola and consumer goods industries.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi will watch Reliance's marketing strategy closely after it exploited sentiments of nationalist nostalgia by positioning Campa as a domestic brand with "Great Indian Taste" and a "rich heritage"

The U.S. company has always been concerned about local products marketed with an "India First" agenda, especially at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself supports self-reliance, according to a former Pepsi executive who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the subject.

Campa cola or lemon plastic bottles were displayed at the main entry gates or put on shelves right next to the competitors in the five Reliance stores that Reuters visited in Mumbai in western India, Chennai in the south, and Lucknow in the north.

A Reliance store manager in one of the company's outlets in Chennai claimed that in order to promote Campa this year, competitors were tucked behind it and concealed from view. According to another city store employee, 30 Campa bottles were sold for every 100 Pepsi and Coca-Cola bottles.

The U.S. adversaries currently have the upper hand. According to Alok Shah, a consumer analyst at India's Ambit Capital, Pepsi and Coca-Cola beverages are offered in at least 3 million Indian outlets, and the companies have a vast logistics network, dozens of factories, and the advantage of a flavour that is well-liked by most people.

He added that Pepsi and Coke, which are available at largely comparable small-pack prices, continue to be aspirational foreign brands for many Indians. "We'll need to wait and watch to see if consumers switch to Campa," he said.

In contrast to the United States, where Coca-Cola is the market leader, Srinivas Rao claimed that he still adores Thums Up, a domestic brand that the company acquired in 1993.

"Every time we eat meat or biryani at home, we purchase Thums Up. Discounts from other brands, like Campa, do not entice us "Rao said in front of a Chennai Reliance store.