The NK Poddar-controlled bottling plant is under Bharat Coca Cola, Coke's holding company for northern and eastern India. Coke officials, when contacted, confirmed the deal but refused to divulge details such as the cost of the buyout.

Industry sources told The Financial Express that Coke is also negotiating with its bottler in Jamshedpur, and hinted that a positive response is anticipated. Coke has been making strong efforts to woo Black Diamond Beverages -- its bottler in Bengal -- ever since it got the Foreign Investment Promotion Board's permission to set up or acquire its own bottling units. With Black Diamond resisting a takeover, Coke recently announced plans to set up its own unit. But the issue became politicised with the Left Front government opposing themultinational's direct entry.

In Bihar, Coke has a large presence with an estimated 70 per cent market share. The Patna plant is a medium sized one, with a capacity of 1.1 million cases (24 bottles each) a year, and makes two of its Indian brands, Thums Up and Limca. Sources said Coke plans to increase the unit's capacity once things settle down. Coca Cola has two holding companies -- Hindustan Coca Cola Ltd and Bharat Coca Cola Ltd -- to negotiate joint ventures or acquire bottling units.

Following the Patna deal, Coke is likely to increase the density of outlets in the state, which is quite low compared with the demand it generates. Population-wise, it has one outlet for every 5000 persons. Coke aims to increase this to one per 1000.Coke, as part of its marketing strategy in India, is working on regional brand identification. The eastern market has been a stronghold of Thums Up rather than Coke. Coke's largest bottler in the east is Black Diamond, which has a unit each in Calcutta and Dankuni in WestBengal.

It has a bottler each at Patna and Jamshedpur in Bihar, one in Orissa and two in the north-east at Guwahati and Jorhat. The north-east market has a big market for one-way or non-returnable bottles.