Soon To Be Coke CEO James Quincey Asks For Meeting With Prime Minister Modi About Sugar Tax

Just before James Quincey assumes his role as the global CEO of Coke, he hopes to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his planned sugar tax. Quincey will be in India next week.

The Sugar Tax

The Centre hopes to roll out the Goods and Service (GST) Bill on July 1^st and just yesterday announced it will be discussing it in the Lok Sabha.

The GST is expected to implement a sugar tax in an effort to curb lifestyle health concerns caused by diet like obesity and diabetes.

Naturally, carbonated drinks manufacturers are concerned. We hope and expect that all products that contain sugar will be taxed according to their content across categories, and that beverages are not singled out. We are hopeful GST will be levied on the basis of sugar content, not on the basis of carbonation,” Coca Cola India’s president, Venkatesh Kini had said in an interview last week.

Coca Cola

To make their appeal, Quincey has requested a meeting with the Prime Minister. However, the PMO is yet to confirm the meeting.

“We are yet to receive any official confirmation from the office of the Prime Minister with regard to this meeting, (and), therefore, unable to comment,” a Coca-Cola India said to the Economic Times.

Notably, Coke as well as its major rival, PepsiCo have been taking steps to give their product portfolio a healthier appeal.