This is Singh's second assignment with Coke in India after a 1998 to 2001 stint as vice-president of operations, responsible for its franchise operations and key accounts group. Singh returns to India after spending close to four years in China, where he exceeded both volume and profit targets with double-digit growth rates.
The new role though, promises to be fraught with challenges. Singh faces a problem of handling the franchisees and the marketing of Coke India, and his biggest task will be to grow the cola category, which has been stagnant since a pesticide-in-cola controversy hit the two cola giants in India in 2003.
