new delhi cocacolas growth plans in india have hit a bottleneck as sales of its beverages in the third quarter julyseptember have been dragged down by rising health concerns over sugary drinks and wary consumer spendingthe atlantabased company maker of drinks such as thums up sprite maaza and minute maid said its sales volume in india declined by 4 in q3 in the same period last year cocacolas sales in india grew by 4the company needs to diversify into more categories here other than sugary carbonated beverages as sales of soft drinks in india is following a different trajectory than in other markets said arvind singhal founder and chairman of retail consultancy technopak cokes rival pepsico has done reasonably well by building a successful food businessat present fizzy drinks account for less than 25 of pepsicos global revenues earlier this month pepsicos chairman and ceo indra nooyi unveiled ambitious plans to reduce the amount of sugar in its beverages signalling a larger global trend that shows a slowdown in sales of sugarsweetened beveragesin india while cocacola and pepsico control around 80 of the soft drink market the carbonated category worth rs 14000 crore consisting of colas and lemony drinks such as pepsi and sprite accounts for more than 70 of the overall market according to nielsen however the widespread availability of healthbased drinks such as packaged lassi aam panna and soya milk among others have dented the growth of fizzy beverages in india coke reentered the dairy category in january with its flavoured milk brand viowhile indians in their thirties and above are shifting to healthier beverages children are still consuming soft drinks said nutritionist and author pooja makhija however as they are wellexposed to whats happening around them they will also realize the health concerns of consuming colas soonapart from a growing negative perception of sweetened beverages increased taxation of sugary drinks in many markets including india have led beverage companies to pass on the extra cost to consumers making their products dearer in pricesensitive markets