--- description: Sodas including Coca-Cola are being bumped from over 1 million traders' shelves in Tamil Nadu for 'straining' the state's water resources. title: Traders in Southern India Boycott Coca-Cola Over 'Scarce' Water Resources image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19c79dba6ec87aea/6988bca9196cf41af003f14a/gettyimages-452649886.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why Traders In This South Indian State Are Shunning Coca-Cola and Pepsi by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 2, 2017 6:29 AM CUT  A vendor sells water and bottled drinks on Marina Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, on July 20, 2014. A vendor sells water and bottled drinks on Marina Beach in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, on July 20, 2014.Sanjit Das—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 2, 2017 6:29 AM CUT Big name sodas including Coca-Cola and Pepsi are being bumped from over 1 million traders’ shelves in southern India’s Tamil Nadu over allegations that foreign companies are siphoning the state’s scarce water resources. The boycott of international soda brands follows local outcry over their water consumption at a time when farmers are reportedly struggling to irrigate their crops in the drought-hit state, _The Guardian_ [reports](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/indian-traders-boycott-coca-cola-for-straining-water-resources "undefined"). According to the NGO India Resource Centre — whose [website](http://www.indiaresource.org/ "undefined") said it supports movements against “corporate globalization in India” — it takes 1.9 liters of water to produce one small bottle of Coca-Cola. The organization’s director Amit Srivastava told _The Guardian_ that soda companies’ sugarcane requirements were also damaging. “Sugarcane is a water-guzzling crop. It is the wrong crop for [India](https://www.theguardian.com/world/india "undefined"),” Srivastava said. “According to our research Coca-Cola is the number one buyer of sugarcane in India and Pepsi is number three. If you take into account the water used for sugarcane, then we’re using 400 litres of water to make a bottle of Cola.” Although neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsico have commented on the boycott, the Indian Beverage Association, which represents the soda giants, said that combined, they provide direct employment to 2,000 families in Tamil Nadu and more than 5,000 families indirectly. “IBA hopes that good sense will prevail and that consumers will continue to have the right to exercise their choice in Tamil Nadu,” it said. \[[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/01/indian-traders-boycott-coca-cola-for-straining-water-resources "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4688087/coca-cola-pepsi-boycott-southern-india/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4688087/coca-cola-pepsi-boycott-southern-india/"},"headline":"Why Traders In This South Indian State Are Shunning Coca-Cola and Pepsi","datePublished":"2017-03-02T06:29:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:36:47.905Z","description":"Over allegations that foreign companies are siphoning the state's scarce water resources","url":"https://time.com/4688087/coca-cola-pepsi-boycott-southern-india/","keywords":["India"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19c79dba6ec87aea/6988bca9196cf41af003f14a/gettyimages-452649886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19c79dba6ec87aea/6988bca9196cf41af003f14a/gettyimages-452649886.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Infrastructure And General Economy As Modi Pledges To Unclog Nation","caption":"Infrastructure And General Economy As Modi Pledges To Unclog Nation","creditText":"Sanjit Das—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4688087/coca-cola-pepsi-boycott-southern-india/","name":"Why Traders In This South Indian State Are Shunning Coca-Cola and Pepsi"}}]}] ```