Varun Beverages has extended its exclusive bottling and trademark licensing agreement with PepsiCo in India until April 30, 2049, according to a regulatory filing by the company on Wednesday.
The revised agreement replaces the earlier arrangement that was scheduled to remain valid until April 30, 2039.
“Varun Beverages Limited (“VBL”) and PepsiCo Inc. and its affiliates (“PepsiCo”) have entered into a revised Exclusive bottling appointment and trademark license agreement for India (“EBA”) on May 21, 2026,” the company said in its filing.
“The changes inter-alia include extension of the EBA for a term up to April 30, 2049, revised from earlier term up to April 30, 2039,” it added.
In a significant operational shift, PepsiCo has also removed a clause that earlier restricted Varun Beverages from pursuing businesses outside PepsiCo-related operations.
“The earlier EBA restricted VBL from carrying out any activity other than to act as an SPV for PepsiCo business, now this requirement is deleted in the revised EBA,” the filing stated.
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The move comes as Varun Beverages accelerates expansion across domestic and overseas markets, driven by rising consumption of carbonated beverages, sports drinks and energy drinks. The company bottles and distributes several PepsiCo brands, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sting, Mirinda, 7UP and Tropicana across India and multiple international territories.
Varun Beverages has evolved into PepsiCo's largest franchise bottler outside the United States and one of the beverage major's most strategic global partners. Led by billionaire businessman Ravi Jaipuria, the company entered Pepsi bottling operations in the late 1980s before consolidating the business under Varun Beverages in 1995.
Over the years, the partnership expanded steadily through franchise acquisitions and territorial transfers, eventually giving VBL a near pan-India footprint. A key milestone came in 2019 when PepsiCo transferred its company-owned bottling operations in South and West India to Varun Beverages.
At the time, PepsiCo said the transaction would create “synergies of scale, operational productivity and efficiency” while supporting the company's broader asset-light strategy globally.
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The partnership has also widened geographically. Varun Beverages currently holds PepsiCo franchise rights across 27 Indian states and several overseas markets, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company also manages distribution operations in parts of Africa, where it continues to focus on capacity expansion and distribution scale-up.
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