Retailers in India’s drought-hit southern state of Kerala plan to join peers in neighbouring Tamil Nadu in a boycott of beverages made by PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, alleging that the multi-national soda makers are depleting groundwater. "Instead of foreign sodas, we will promote local beverages," T Naseeruddin, president of KVVES, a trade body that claims membership of more than 700,000 retailers in Kerala, said in a phone interview. "We will announce the ban on March 14." The looming threat of a boycott in Kerala comes a week after numerous retailers in Tamil Nadu stopped selling sodas made by PepsiCo and Coca Cola as the state’s population battles water scarcity. Of the 6,607 areas assessed in India to check groundwater developments, 1,071 areas were categorised as "over-exploited", including parts of the two southern states, according to federal government data released on December 1. New Delhi-based spokesmen for PepsiCo and Coca-Cola didn’t immediately respond to calls to seeking c...
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