IN A RESOUNDING VOTE OF CONFIDENCE TO its Indian subsidiary, the Coca Cola Company has awarded the Robert W. Woodruff Award—its global business performance prize—to Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages. The award is named after the company’s longest serving chairman Robert W. Woodruff, who led the company for 50 years.

Says Sanjiv Gupta, deputy president of the India division at the Coca-Cola Company, “Coca-Cola India had a chance to create history and we are all now geared up to see that we continue to excel in every area of our operations and activities.”

Coca-Cola Company’s president and chief operating officer Steve Heyer said, “The Robert W. Woodruff Award is dedicated to both the spirit of excellence and the commitment to superior performance that are the legacy of the person for whom the award was named. This was demonstrated in 2002 by Coca-Cola India.”

Coca-Cola India recorded a robust double-digit growth in terms of sales volume with a much broader consumer base in the country. The India division exceeded expectations in 2002 in all categories through commitment and hard work put up by the employees driving substantially higher volume and increased market share.

The award is doubly significant for the Indian subsidiary because Coke's India operations have been constantly beset with problems. The company ended its decades-long association with the country in 1977 after a socialist government ordered it to cut its equity stake to 40% and to hand over its secret formula.

Coke's recent problems began in 1996 when the company received permission to pump up its investment. Under a policy passed that year, Coke agreed to sell 49% of its equity to Indian partners within two years. (The time limit was later extended.) Coke invested some $840 million, making it one of India's largest foreign investors, but profits have been elusive, with the parent company having to write off $400 million in losses in 2001.