What: PepsiCo announces the 'Taste the Success � Become Indra's Advisors' challenge for management students in India. Under the challenge, PepsiCo India has invited business strategies, for unlocking the latent demand for beverages in India, from leading management schools.

The winners will get an opportunity to present and discuss their case study with Indra Nooyi, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo in New York. If the business strategy is found feasible, students may get an opportunity to engage as advisors on an ongoing basis with PepsiCo business to operationalise their ideas.

The first runners up will get a cash award of INR 1,00,000/-, while the second runners up will get a cash award of INR 50,000/-. The top 6 finalist teams will get a chance to appear for a pre placement interview (PPI).

Institutes involved
The management institutes participating in the challenge will be the 5 Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Indore), Management Development Institute (MDI), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS).

Evaluation process

All full time MBA students at the above-mentioned B-schools will be eligible to participate in the contest. The process:

• The management students to form a team of maximum 3 members
• Prepare the business strategy after reading the case proposed by PepsiCo. Register and upload it onto the website(www.pepsicotastethesuccess.com)
• The top 6 finalist teams will be given an opportunity  to appear for a pre placement interview without going though the initial screening process
• These 6 teams will be flown to New Delhi where they will present their case to a distinguished panelist including Mr Sanjeev Chadha, CEO, PepsiCo India, Mr Saurabh Srivastava, Founder, Indian Angel Network & Founder Member, TIE,  Mr JK Mitra, FMS Dean and Mr Vinod Rao, CFO, PepsiCo India, who will choose the top 3 winning teams.
• Winning team will be flown to New York to present their case to Indra Nooyi

Important dates
~ Registration: January 15-31, 2008
~ Submission of reports: January 15-31, 2008
~ Declaration of Stage 1 results (6 short-listed entries): February 8, 2008
~ Final round: Second/ third week of March
~ Declaration of 3 winners: Second/ third week of March 

For further details, contact:
Mrinall Kanti Dey
GM-Corporate Communications
PepsiCo India
Mob: +91 9818449509
Email: Mrinall.dey@intl.pepsico.com

Poonam Kapila/ Kaveri Sengupta
Genesis Burson-Marsteller
Mob: +91 9811703973 / + 91 9811616685
Email: Kaveri.sengupta@bm.com