Thums Up is an Indian multinational brand of cola in India. It was introduced in 1977 to offset the withdrawal of The Coca-Cola Company from India. The brand was later bought by Coca-Cola who re-launched it in order to fight against Pepsi to capture the market. , Thums Up is the leader in the cola segment in India, commanding approximately 42% market share and an overall 15% market share in the Indian aerated waters market. In 2021, the company became a billion-dollar brand in India. History Thums Up was created in 1977, after the American company Coca-Cola withdrew from India, due to regulations requiring it to disclose its formula and sell 60% of its equity to an Indian company under a government plan for foreign-owned companies to share stakes with domestic partners. The Chauhan brothers owned part of the Parle company and already had two other brands of soda, Limca and Gold Spot, which were popular in India at the time. Thums Up quickly became the most popular cola brand in India and achieved a near monopoly among cola products in India during the 1980s, above other cola products such as Campa Cola, Double Seven, Dukes and United Breweries Group's McDowell's Crush. Ramesh Chauhan had developed the formula from scratch, experimenting with ingredients such as cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. The company also wanted the drink to be fizzy, even when it was not ice-cold, so it could be sold by vendors. After much testing and experimentation, the Chauhan brothers and their research team created a cola that was fizzier and spicier than Coca-Cola. They originally planned to name the drink “Thumbs Up,” but removed the “b” to make the name unique. In 1991, when the Indian government opened the market to multinationals, Pepsi was the first to come in. Thums Up and Pepsi subsequently engaged in heavy competition for endorsements. Pepsi advertisements included major Indian movie stars like Juhi Chawla, while Thums Up increased its spending on cricket sponsorship. Thums Up also introduced a larger bottle, branded "MahaCola" (meaning 'great [in size] cola'; the original size was ). This nickname gained popularity in smaller towns where people would ask for "Maha Cola" instead of Thums Up. In 1993, Coca-Cola re-entered the market, and the three companies competed intensely. Later in the year, Coca-Cola bought the Parle-owned drinks Gold Spot, Limca and Thums Up for $60 million. When these were sold