India Rejects Coke Bid: Coca-Cola lost its...

India Rejects Coke Bid: Coca-Cola lost its bid to return to India when the government turned down an application that would have allowed the soft-drink maker to compete with domestic producers. Even a spokesman for Coke’s top competitor, Pepsi-Cola, criticized the move as a return to economic nationalism by India, which in recent years had encouraged foreign investment. Commerce Secretary S. P. Shukla said Coke’s application to build a $3-million plant in an export zone had been rejected. A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce said “protection of India’s domestic market played a major factor in the decision.”