Success Story: When a person sees a big dream, the whole universe comes together and stands with him. You might have heard this, but what if we give you such a living example? It will be fun, right? So… this is the story of one such passionate man, who started his journey by driving an auto on the roads of Bengaluru, and today the valuation of the company he created is in crores. This is the story of Satya Shankar, who made Bindu Jeera Masala Soda a brand which is competing with big foreign cold drink companies. He once had the steering of an auto in his hands, and today he owns a luxury car like a Rolls-Royce. This is not just a business story, but a living example of an extraordinary journey of determination and simple thinking.
Satya Shankar was born in Bellare village near Puttur, Karnataka. His family was involved in farming and his father was the village priest. The financial condition of the house was not such that the children could be educated properly. For this reason, Satya Shankar was forced to leave his studies after 12th. For the son of a poor farmer family, dreaming big was a luxury, but Satya had the passion to do something from the very beginning. He knew that if he wanted to change his life, he would have to move towards a big city.
Auto to car, drinking water from car
In 1984, when Satya Shankar was just 18 years old, the most important thing for him was to earn money. He took a loan under a self-employment scheme of the central government and bought his first auto-rickshaw. Satya’s auto started running on the crowded streets of Bengaluru. He worked hard and the results of his hard work were visible within a year. He had repaid the auto loan. For him, this was not just an installment payment, it was the first victory of self-confidence. His dream was no longer limited to autos. He sold his auto and bought an old Ambassador car. Now he started driving taxis, which took him beyond the district boundaries to other states. During this time, he noticed one thing that whether tourist or common man, everyone used to buy packaged drinking water on the way. This stuck in his mind like a small business idea. He felt that there was huge scope in this market.
The auto driver was giving auto loan
Satya didn’t even feel like driving a taxi. He felt that he had stopped at one place. In the year 1987, he also said goodbye to his Ambassador car and started a small business of automobile spare parts. Soon, he noticed that people in villages and villages took loans at high interest rates to buy cars, not from banks but from small-time people. From here another business idea came to his mind – to finance the car. In 1994, he started his own auto finance company Praveen Capital. An auto driver was now giving loans to people to buy auto-rickshaws. This is called the change of days and luck.
Started the work of packaged drinking water again
He did well in finance, but Satya Shankar now wanted to try his luck in the FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) sector, especially in the drinking water business, the idea for which came to him while driving a taxi. He owned 50 acres of his father’s land in Puttur, which had a natural source of water. He got the water tested, which turned out to be absolutely pure. In the year 2000, Satya Shankar started his own packaged drinking water company and named it Bindu. In Kannada language it means a drop. The name was simple, but the intentions were big. Bindu Mineral Water started doing good work, but Satya Shankar knew that this was not his destination.
Turning point came after 2 years
And then came that turning point… it was the year 2002. Satya Shankar had gone to visit North India with his friends. He was roaming on the streets when he saw a cart vendor selling a strange drink. He was mixing cumin powder and salt in soda water and giving it to people. There was a crowd, and people were drinking the drink with great enthusiasm. In the era of foreign cold drinks, he found this desi drink very interesting. The light in Satya Shankar’s mind lit up!
They thought, “Why not turn this desi taste into a packaged soda?” He felt that India loves the taste of cumin and spices. Just with this one little idea Bindu Fizz Jeera Masala Was born.
Satya Shankar returned to Karnataka and immediately started working on the formula with his team. With less money and limited resources, he started testing in his Puttur plant. Initially, this product was not successful. People found a cumin-masala soda strange, because the market was dominated by only sweet and well-packaged cold drinks. But Satya Shankar remained adamant on his desi thinking. He knew that one day this taste would reach people’s hearts.
Desi Flavor: Instead of competing with international flavours, he chose the traditional flavors of India (cumin and masala). This was a bold step, because no big company was doing this at that time.
Less cost: He used the facilities of his packaged water plant, which saved the huge expense of setting up a new factory.
Target Market: He initially focused on the rural and town areas of his own state Karnataka, where the reach of foreign brands was less and the demand for desi taste was more.
Gradually people started liking the sweet-sour, spicy taste of Bindu Jeera Masala Soda. It was also easy to digest, so it was perfect to drink after meals. After achieving tremendous success in South India, the company entered other states and even international markets like UAE, Singapore and Malaysia. Bindu Jeera Soda became a homegrown brand giving tough competition to big giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Some of the decisions of Satya Shankar were behind this unprecedented growth of Bindu Jeera-
- Instead of spending crores on marketing, he focused on strengthening his distribution chain.
- Delivered its product to small grocery stores in every village, where big brands had less influence.
- Even today, the company believes in traditional and effective marketing methods like its wall painting, which connect directly with the common people.
- Satya Shankar named his company SG Group, under which he now sells more than 55 products like drinking water, soda, fruit juice and snacks.
How big is the business now?
Today, the company formed by Satya Shankar does business worth several crores. ‘House of Bindu’, the flagship brand of Bindu Jeera Soda, is a private company with a revenue of Rs 570 crore in FY2025. According to this, the estimated valuation is estimated to be around Rs 800. Talking about the entire SG Group, the total revenue is Rs 900 crore, of which other arms like Praveen Capital contribute Rs 330 crore. His dream is to touch the turnover of Rs 1000 crore, for which he is preparing to set up more new plants across the country. Based on media reports for 2023-2025 and derived from FMCG beverage sector revenue multiples (1.5-2x). The company is strong in South India, as it has 2 lakh retail outlets and plans to expand to North, East and West India by FY2026.
