If you grew up in India before the 1990s, the name Campa Cola takes you somewhere specific. It takes you to a hot afternoon, a glass bottle with a bright red cap, and a taste that felt distinctly, proudly Indian. For nearly two decades, Campa was not just a soft drink — it was a symbol of national identity at a time when foreign brands were not welcome on Indian soil. Then the economy opened up, Pepsi and Coca-Cola walked in, and Campa quietly disappeared from shelves.
Now it is back. And the story of who owns it today — and how it got here — is one of the most fascinating brand revival stories in modern Indian business history.
What Is Campa?
Campa Cola is a soft drink brand in India. It was a market leader in the Indian soft drink market in the 1970s and 1980s in most regions of India when India imposed restrictions on foreign products. It was popular until the advent of the foreign players Pepsi and Coca-Cola after the liberalisation policy of the P. V. Narasimha Rao government in 1991.
Campa Cola is owned by Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), which is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL). As of 2026, it is available in almost all major states through Reliance Fresh, Sahakari Bhandar, and local Kirana stores via the JioMart network.
Who Owns Campa Right Now in 2026?
The answer is clear and direct: Campa is owned by Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), the FMCG arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) — India’s largest conglomerate.
In 2022, Campa Cola was acquired by Reliance Industries for ₹22 crores. Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), on 9 March 2023 announced the relaunch of the Campa brand. The Campa portfolio initially included Campa Cola, Campa Lemon, and Campa Orange in the sparkling beverage category.
The corporate ownership chain looks like this: Campa brand → owned by RCPL → which is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures → which is a part of Reliance Industries Limited → led by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest person.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Entity | Role | Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) | Direct Owner of Campa Brand | 100% brand ownership | FMCG arm of Reliance; acquired Campa in August 2022 |
| Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL) | Parent of RCPL | Controls RCPL | India’s largest retail company; subsidiary of RIL |
| Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) | Ultimate Parent Company | Controls RRVL | India’s largest conglomerate; listed on BSE and NSE |
| Mukesh Ambani | Chairman & Managing Director of RIL | ~42.9% of RIL | India’s richest person; net worth over $100 billion |
| Pure Drinks Group | Original Creator | Sold brand for ₹22 crore in 2022 | Founded Campa Cola in 1977; now operates in hospitality |
| Agthia Group (UAE) | International Distribution Partner | No equity | Distributes Campa Cola in the UAE market |
The Origin Story: Born Out of a Political Decision
Campa was not built in a corporate lab. It was born because of a government order.
The history of Campa Cola is deeply linked to India’s political and economic climate of the late 1970s. In 1977, the Janata Party government led by Morarji Desai enforced the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), a law that required foreign companies to reduce their ownership to 40% in Indian operations and share critical business details, including proprietary formulas.
Coca-Cola refused to comply — especially with the demand to share its secret formula — and chose to exit India entirely in 1977. That exit created a massive vacuum in the market, and Pure Drinks Group, led by Mohan Singh, stepped in to fill it.
Campa Cola was a drink created by the Pure Drinks Group, owned by Mohan Singh in the 1970s. Pure Drinks Group were the pioneers in the Indian soft drink industry when they introduced Coca-Cola into India in 1949 and were the sole manufacturer and distributor of Coca-Cola until the 1970s when the drink industry was nationalised for Indian interests. The Pure Drinks Group and Campa Beverages Pvt. Ltd. virtually dominated the entire Indian soft drink industry for about 15 years.
For those 15 years, Campa was everywhere. It had cola, lemon, and orange variants. It was affordable. It was Indian. And it carried a slogan that generations still remember — “The Great Indian Taste.”
The Fall: When Liberalisation Changed Everything
Campa’s story took a painful turn in the early 1990s — not because the drink got worse, but because the rules of the game changed completely.
Campa Cola’s downfall was not sudden — it unfolded gradually as India’s economy changed in the early 1990s. The turning point came with the liberalisation reforms introduced under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, which opened Indian markets to foreign investment and global competition. PepsiCo entered India in 1990 through a joint venture, marking the beginning of intense competition in the soft drink market. Coca-Cola made a high-profile comeback in 1993.
Campa, along with soft drink brands developed by Parle — namely Thums Up, Gold Spot, and Limca — dominated the market. However, after Coca-Cola subsequently acquired the three Parle brands on its re-entry, Campa could not compete and fell out of the market. It made repeated attempts to re-enter the market, with the latest being in 2019, but failed to take on Coca-Cola due to a lack of financial strength.
By the 2000s, Campa had virtually vanished. Pure Drinks Group survived by pivoting to hospitality — they own the Le Méridien hotel in Delhi — after the decline of their beverage business.
The Reliance Takeover: A ₹22 Crore Bet That Stunned Everyone
In August 2022, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries did something that nobody in the industry expected — it bought Campa for just ₹22 crore (roughly $2.6 million).
That’s when Reliance Retail, the consumer arm of Mukesh Ambani’s empire, acquired Campa Cola from Pure Drinks Group for ₹22 crore. On the surface, it looked like a nostalgia play. But insiders knew — this was Ambani’s bold entry into India’s massive non-alcoholic beverage market, estimated to reach ₹1.47 lakh crore by 2030.
The price paid — ₹22 crore — is what makes this story so remarkable. For a brand that once dominated the largest consumer market in the world, ₹22 crore is almost nothing. But for Reliance, it was not about what Campa was worth in 2022. It was about what Campa could become inside Reliance’s distribution empire.
Reliance isn’t just selling a drink; they are executing a “Jio-style” disruption of the beverage market. Their goal is to offer a “Made in India” alternative that hits the sweet spot of nostalgia for older generations and affordability for the youth. RCPL relaunched Campa in March 2023 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, starting with cola, lemon, and orange variants. By 2024-2025, it expanded nationwide. Aggressive pricing: 200ml at ₹10 — half of rivals’ 250ml packs — targeting price-sensitive rural and tier-2/3 markets.
The Jio Playbook: How Reliance Is Using Campa to Challenge Coke and Pepsi
Anyone who watched Reliance disrupt the telecom industry with Jio in 2016 — offering free data and dirt-cheap calls that forced every competitor to restructure their pricing overnight — will recognize exactly what is happening with Campa in 2026.
The strategy is identical. Enter a market dominated by foreign giants. Undercut their prices dramatically. Use an already-built distribution network — in Campa’s case, Reliance’s massive JioMart, Reliance Fresh, and Reliance Retail chains — to put the product in front of hundreds of millions of customers instantly. And pair all of it with a dose of national pride.
Campa Cola is available in almost all major states through Reliance Fresh, Sahakari Bhandar, and local Kirana stores via the JioMart network. That reach is something no startup challenger brand could build in decades. Reliance already had it, and Campa plugged straight into it.
Campa Goes International: The UAE Expansion
Campa is no longer just an Indian story. In early 2025, the brand crossed borders.
Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) announced the launch of Campa Cola in the UAE at the ongoing Gulfood event — the world’s largest F&B sourcing event — held from February 17-21, 2025. Campa Cola is being launched in the UAE with partner Agthia Group, one of the region’s leading food and beverage companies.
RCPL COO Ketan Mody said: “We are excited to enter the UAE market with Campa, a heritage Indian brand founded more than 50 years ago. We are investing for the long term and see great potential for accelerated growth in the region.”
The UAE launch is strategic — India’s massive expatriate community there represents a ready-made nostalgic customer base who grew up drinking Campa before it disappeared.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Campa Cola in 2026?
Campa is owned by Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, led by Mukesh Ambani.
Q2. How much did Reliance pay for Campa Cola?
Reliance Industries acquired Campa Cola from Pure Drinks Group for just ₹22 crore in August 2022.
Q3. Who originally created Campa Cola?
Campa Cola was created by the Pure Drinks Group, owned by Mohan Singh, in 1977 after Coca-Cola exited India.
Q4. When did Reliance relaunch Campa Cola?
Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL) officially relaunched Campa on 9 March 2023 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Q5. Why did Campa Cola disappear in the 1990s?
Campa lost its market after India’s economic liberalisation in 1991 allowed Pepsi and Coca-Cola to re-enter and dominate the market.
Q6. Is Campa Cola available internationally?
Yes. Campa Cola launched in the UAE in February 2025 through a partnership with Agthia Group, targeting Indian expats and local consumers.
Q7. What is the price of Campa Cola?
Campa is priced at just ₹10 for 200ml — aggressively cheaper than rivals — targeting price-sensitive rural and tier-2/3 markets.
Q8. Which company is the parent of Reliance Consumer Products?
RCPL is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL), which is itself part of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), listed on the BSE and NSE.
Campa is owned by Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL), a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures, which is part of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited — India’s largest and most powerful conglomerate. Reliance acquired the brand from the Pure Drinks Group in August 2022 for just ₹22 crore, relaunched it in March 2023, and has since expanded it to all major Indian states and internationally to the UAE.
What started as a “Made in India” cola born from political necessity in 1977, disappeared after economic liberalisation in the 1990s, and has now been reborn as Reliance’s weapon in a ₹67,000 crore beverage war against Coca-Cola and Pepsi. At ₹10 for 200ml, Campa is not just a soft drink — it is Mukesh Ambani’s boldest consumer bet yet.