At an Indian gourmet food store, Avanti Mehta is organising a blind tasting of drinks sourced from France, Italy and India. No, this isn’t wine, it’s water.
Participants use tiny shot glasses to check the minerality, carbonation and salinity in samples of Evian from the French Alps, Perrier from southern France, San Pellegrino from Italy and India’s Aava from the foothills of the Aravalli mountains.
“They will all taste different … you should be choosing a water that can give you some sort of nutritional value,” said Mehta, who is 32 and calls herself India’s youngest water sommelier, a term usually associated with premium wine. Her family owns the Aava mineral water brand.
Premium water is a $400 million business in the world’s most populous nation and is growing bigger as its wealthy see it as a new status symbol that fits in with a spreading wellness craze.
“Distrust of municipal water in some areas has escalated the demand for bottled water. Now, people understand how mineral water has more health benefits. It’s expensive, but the category will boom,” said Amulya Pandit, a senior consultant at Euromonitor specialising in the drinks market.
Among its consumers is New Delhi-based real estate developer BS. Batra, who says his family uses only premium water at home to get more minerals and safeguard health.
“You feel different, more energetic during the day,” said Batra, 49, an avid badminton player. “I consume mineral water even with whisky at home, and kids use it for their smoothies.”
The popular 20-cent plastic bottled water is mainly made by Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Indian market leader Bisleri. In addition, Indians who can afford it install purifiers in their homes, which clean the water but also remove most minerals.
Imported and local premium waters are luring wealthy consumers and businesses alike.
Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar and her sister have launched Backbay — selling 750 millilitre (ml) cartons of mineral water for $2.2; Indian conglomerate Tata is expanding its premium water portfolio, and retailers and businesses are reporting higher sales.
Most Indians prefer still water, and the sparkling variant remains niche. Tata said it plans to launch a sparkling Himalayan water and is also scouting for natural springs to expand its other offerings.
At three Foodstories Indian gourmet stores, sales of premium waters tripled in 2025. Customer demand prompted the chain to import “light and creamy” Saratoga Spring Water from New York, which costs 799 rupees ($9) for a 355ml bottle, and stocks sold out within days, said co-founder Avni Biyani.
Indian mineral water brand Aava’s sales touched a record 805m rupees ($9m) last year, growing 40pc a year since 2021. Tata said its basic and premium water portfolio will grow 30pc a year, after growing tenfold to $65 million in six years.
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