The Rise & Fall of Janata Party's Double Seven Cola

Back in the year 1973, The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) legislation was passed in India by the Indira Gandhi government with the aim of regulating payments and foreign exchange.

Post the emergency, when the General Elections were held in 1977, Indira Gandhi lost the power and a hastily formed Janata Party alliance government took charge. Coca-Cola was India's leading soft drink in 1977. As per the The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, the Govt. of India asked the Coca-Cola Company to transfer the technical know-how and 60% of its stake to an Indian company; failing to do so would lead to its departure from India.

Coke refused to give away its 60% share to an Indian company as this would mean that it would have had to share its secret ingredients of Coca-Cola. With a heavy heart, Coke decided to quit its Indian business in the wake of the protectionist policies implemented by the Indian Government. Thousands of Coca-Cola workers in India were affected by the shutdown of Coca-Cola in India. There were widespread protests against the government by the employees who had lost their jobs.

To pacify the protesters and thousands of former Coke employees who had lost their jobs, the Janata Party Government decided to launch its own Cola in India. This locally made Swadeshi soft drink was named 'Double Seven'. In fact there was a competition to suggest a name for the cola with prize money of Rs One Lakh. It was won by veteran parliamentarian Prof NG Ranga who suggested the name Double Seven. Lyrics of the jingle were" Double Seven, Double Seven, Double Seven. Its too good for words."

Double Seven wasn't just a number; it denoted a year of dramatic events, 1977, a year when the Congress Party lost hold of India for the first time.

It wasn't a one horse race for Double Seven for Coke's exit from India paved way for other domestic cold drinks to flourish in India. Despite the aggressive marketing by the Government of India, Double Seven faced severe competition from other Indian brands and soon Double Seven lost its market share.

When the Janata Party fell apart, the final straw was when Indira Gandhi came back to power in 1980. No leader would put up with a symbol of defeat from the past and so ended the days of Double Seven.

In 1993, Coca-Cola along with PepsiCo returned after the introduction of India's Liberalization policy under the leadership of P. V. Narasimha Rao.

FERA was repealed in 1998 by the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and replaced by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, which liberalized foreign exchange controls and restrictions on foreign investment.