MUMBAI: Zero sugar is no longer a differentiator for India’s soft-drinks industry – it’s a way of ensuring a stake in the market. After a year in which zero sugar dominated advertising and shelf space, beverage makers are offering functional drinks – reduced or no-sugar products with zero calories and ingredients like vitamins, minerals, probiotics and prebiotics.
Chini Kum has entered the market with zero-sugar, low-calorie drinks fortified with prebiotic fibre. VRB Consumer Products (Veeba) has tied up with singer Karan Aujla to launch Zyro, a zero-calorie and zero-sugar beverage line in India.
“No sugar, low calorie will definitely continue to trend. The awareness about sugar, calories has picked up quite a bit, done by both influencers and brands,” said Chirag Maheshwari, co-founder of Peping, which sells low-calorie prebiotic fizzy drinks and probiotic digestive shots.
Mumbai‑based Misfits positions its product as India’s first prebiotic soda, made with prebiotic fibre and plant‑based ingredients. Other Indian companies focussed on the probiotic/prebiotic trend include Atmosphere Studio, Enlite, Quenzy and Bubz.
Regional brands don’t want to lose out on the trend and are coming out with localized flavours to drive consumption.
“We are soon coming up with a zero-sugar, stevia-based version of Lahori Zeera for calorie-conscious people,” said Lahori Zeera’s co-founder Nikhil Doda.
The market in India has grown almost 3x from 2021 to today, shows data from business intelligence platform Euromonitor International accessed by Mint. Euromonitor said the market will be ₹30,850 crore in 2026. Estimates indicate the Indian soft drinks industry to be ₹60,000-65,000 crore today.
Yet, as zero sugar becomes ubiquitous, companies are finding new ways to stand out.
Daily consumption
“Products offering electrolytes, vitamins, gut health benefits, low or no sugar, and clean label formulations are being integrated into everyday consumption occasions across work, study and leisure,” Grant Thronton said in a report titled India’s Beverage Industry in 2026 released in March.
The shift is visible across incumbents and challengers alike. Rasna Nutri+ was launched in March as part of the company’s summer campaign. This new nutrition-fortified powder drink concentrate, enhanced with vitamins and minerals, is marketed to consumers looking for healthier options.
“Our entire Jumpin range, relaunched after acquiring the brand, has been introduced with 50% less sugar. Similarly, nearly half of our powder concentrate portfolio today consists of reduced-sugar variants,” said Piruz Khambatta, chairman of the Rasna Group.
Health-focussed branding, which was popular in energy or sports drinks, has become mainstream.
“Ingredients such as electrolytes and vitamins, which were earlier limited to sports or recovery-led occasions, are now being repositioned for everyday consumption, with newer propositions around hydration, immunity and gut health gaining strong traction,” Naveen Malpani, partner and consumer and retail industry leader at Grant Thornton Bharat, told Mint. “This shift is less cyclical and more structural and will continue to reshape how the category is defined, marketed and competed.”
Coca-Cola launched Simply Pop in February 2025, and Pepsi introduced Prebiotic Cola in July with prebiotic fibre to support gut health with minerals and vitamins in the global markets. These products are yet to be launched in India.
Running parallel to the health pivot is a pronounced embrace of Indian flavours.
“Traditional Indian beverages such as kokum, jaljeera, aam panna, buttermilk and sattu are being restructured into hygienic, convenient and premium formats,” Grant Thornton said, calling it a “modern traditional” convergence that is expanding choice and strengthening regional relevance.
Indian flavours
India has brought back Rimzim Jeera, originally introduced by Parle in the 1980s and acquired by Coca-Cola in 1993 before being discontinued in the early 2000s. Other Indian brands such as Nrich, Lahori Zeera and Zyro are expanding their traditional Indian flavors like lemon sharbat, aamras and masala pop.
Analysts expect the reformulated portfolios to pay off.
“After subdued sales growth last fiscal, soft drink bottlers are poised to see revenue rebound to their long-term average growth of ~15% this fiscal, driven by hotter summers,” Crisil Ratings said in a report last week.
’s no-sugar and mid-sugar drinks accounted for 59% of its sales volumes in the October-December quarter, up from 53% a year earlier, according to bottling partner Varun Beverages, marking the company’s sharpest year-on-year increase.
Coca-Cola has a clear strategy for its low/no-sugar variants Coke Zero and Diet Coke globally.
“Zeros and Diets are our mid-teens percentage of total soft drink volume. So, there’s both an opportunity or a possibility that they could become a bigger piece of soft drink and actually help to continue to grow the sparkling category around the world,” James Quincey, chairman and chief executive officer of The Coca-Cola Co, told investors in October.