Rising costs for key inputs such as plastic bottles, caps, labels and cardboard packaging have begun to squeeze margins, with some packaged water manufacturers already increasing prices.

Rahul Kumar, deputy chief executive at SLMG Beverages, said the company would consider price adjustments depending on competitive dynamics and consumer response.“If the war continues, the packaging material cost may continue to move up,” Kumar said, noting that broad-based price increases remain constrained in a highly competitive market.

India’s soft drinks market has intensified following the re-entry of Reliance Industries into the segment with its revival of the Campa cola brand in 2023. The move has triggered aggressive pricing and expanded distribution, limiting the ability of incumbents to pass on higher costs.

Kumar said SLMG Beverages had not implemented a portfolio-wide price increase in the past seven to eight years, reflecting price sensitivity among consumers and the presence of multiple national and regional competitors.

Despite cost pressures, the company is pressing ahead with capacity expansion to capture rising demand in India’s non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages market, which consultancy Redseer estimates could double to about $40 billion by 2030.SLMG Beverages plans to invest between 10 billion and 12 billion rupees in each of four new plants over the next five years.

The bottler, which accounts for more than 22% of Coca-Cola’s India volumes, is targeting net revenue of 100 billion rupees by 2026–27.The expansion will focus on populous states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where consumption levels remain relatively low but incomes are rising.

The company reported strong growth in the last fiscal year, with sales rising 49% to 67.73 billion rupees and net profit increasing 76% to 2.06 billion rupees, according to data from Tofler.

The developments underscore how the Middle East conflict is feeding into global supply chains, pushing up input costs for consumer-facing industries even in markets geographically distant from the conflict zone.

China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.

China’s securities watchdog has advised some local brokerages to pause their real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation business in Hong Kong, said two sources, signalling Beijing’s concerns of a euphoric drive towards a booming digital assets market offshore.

The RWA tokenisation process usually converts traditional assets such as stocks, bonds, funds and even real estate, into digital tokens traded on a blockchain. A raft of Chinese firms, including brokerages, have launched RWAs in Hong Kong over the past few months.

At least two leading brokerages have received informal guidance from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in recent weeks to refrain from conducting RWA business offshore, said the sources with knowledge of the matter.

One of the sources said the latest regulatory guidance is aimed at strengthening risk management of a new business and making sure the claims made by companies are backed by strong, legitimate businesses.

The move comes as Hong Kong over the past year ramped up efforts to position the Asian financial centre as a digital assets hub, with many firms, including Chinese brokerages, preparing for the launch of virtual asset trading, investment advisory and virtual asset management.

China, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, on the other hand, has taken a cautious approach towards digital assets after it banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to financial system stability concerns.

Last month, Chinese regulators asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

Beijing’s latest move comes even as Hong Kong said in June its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are conducting a legal review of RWA tokenisation, drawing on international experience.

The global RWA market is currently worth around $29 billion, according to data provider RWA.xyz. China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.

China, once the world’s biggest bitcoin trading and mining centre, on the other hand, has taken a cautious approach towards digital assets after it banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to financial system stability concerns.

Last month, Chinese regulators asked big local brokers to halt publication of research endorsing stablecoins in a bid to curb a surge in interest in the digital currency among domestic investors, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

Beijing’s latest move comes even as Hong Kong said in June its Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) are conducting a legal review of RWA tokenisation, drawing on international experience.

The global RWA market is currently worth around $29 billion, according to data provider RWA.xyz. China Merchants Securities, citing industry forecasts, said last month the figure could exceed $2 trillion by 2030.