Coca-Cola delivery fleet goes green in Delhi

New Delhi, July 9 (Inditop.com) The 85 Coca-Cola trucks in the city that deliver soft-drink bottles to your neighbourhood store will not belch black smoke any more. Their engines have been changed to use CNG, with the first three trucks of the new “green fleet” flagged off by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here Wednesday evening.

On the occasion, Dikshit called upon all residents of the capital to use eco-friendly alternatives wherever and whenever they could in their daily lives, and lauded Coca-Cola for having changed its fleet over to the eco-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel.

“This takes forward the Delhi government’s efforts to encourage a transport system that is clean, effective and benefits the environment,” she said.

President and CEO of Coca-Cola India Atul Singh said businesses, the government and civil society had to come together at all levels to solve environmental problems and move towards a cleaner future.

“At Coca-Cola India, we have joined hands with the government, NGOs and local community to work on the issues of fresh water and climate protection. A lot of the good work on water and the environment has been done under the ‘Bhagidari’ (partnership) platform of the Delhi government.”

Ahmet Bozer, president of the Eurasia and Africa group of Coca-Cola, who was present at the flagging-off ceremony, lauded the Delhi government for taking a number of green initiatives, including the recent ban on plastic bags.

A company spokesperson said Coca-Cola India is also working on the goal of achieving a “net zero” balance with respect to groundwater usage by the end of the year. “By being a ‘net zero’ user of groundwater, the Coca-Cola system in India will create a rainwater harvesting potential equivalent to the groundwater used for its operations in India.”

The company has already installed over 400 rainwater harvesting structures in the country and has constructed and revived several ponds, check dams and wells around India in partnership with NGOs, government agencies and local communities.