this story originally appeared in on feb 24 2017new delhi when prime minister narendra modi meets the indianborn chief executive of pepsico next month the meeting agenda would be full business ties the currency swap and healthier drinks would likely feature in the talks when indra nooyi visits south block early march nooyi the sole indianamerican in president donald trumprsquos policy forum is scheduled to visit india in the first week of march as part of business reviews the policy forum is assisting the us government in implementing the new presidentrsquos economic agenda that critics say would lead to increased protectionism and stiffer barriers to trade besides global issues the chief executive of purchase new yorkbased pepsico would have several discussion points built around her companyrsquos business and the industry she represents last week nooyi described the currencyswap as a massive change as 80 of the currency was withdrawn from circulation temporarily affecting purchasing power in a country that had hitherto used cash in 98 of its consumer transactions ldquoour hope is that by the time q2 rolls in we would be through the bulk of the demonetisation challenges the new currency and the digital currency will be back in circulation and wersquoll be back to retail activity coming back to normalrdquo nooyi told analysts on a postearnings conference call nooyi had also told analysts that her company was also making ldquosignificant progress in transforming its portfoliordquo illustrating the industryrsquos shift to lesssugary drinks in an ambitious announcement last year nooyi had said pepsico was making sweeping changes to its portfolio to reduce sugar in carbonated drinks and juices across countries by 2025 three years ago indiarsquos food processing ministry had suggested to nooyi during one of her visits that her company reduce the sugar content in its beverages sold here last year pepsico kicked off its sugar reduction exercise with 7up cutting the sugar content 30 and replacing it with plantbased sweetener stevia this was the first carbonated beverage in the country to contain natural sweetener instead of sugar apart from the chennaiborn nooyi other leaders from the corporate sector to join trumprsquos strategic and policy forum include cab aggregator uber ceo travis kalanick and energy storage solar panel and auto maker tesla chairman elon musk