Why you need to calculate Financial Projections ?

Every entrepreneur comes out with his set of ideas. And truly, Idea IS the catalyst for a business to take existence. However, it's continuous cash-flow/ profit awareness which makes the business succeed. For this, every business should get their Financial Projections done after the initial built up of Business Model Canvas.

What are financial projections, and why they are vital ?

An idea is an imagination. A Business Model Canvas is a little detailed imagination. Once you actually document the revenue-expenses on each of the component, it gives you a near-true picture as to where do you stand financially. So you can adjust factors.

How long should one project ?

Minimum 3 years and ideally 5 years. As any business is expected to go through some hi-lows during the period. After this passage, the business owner knows the tricks of the trade. I would recommend to make 5 year projections for 1-gen entrepreneur and 3 year projections for 2nd,3rd gen entrepreneurs.

Standardized Project Reports are useless

There are many available on the internet. However, I would suggest you to get it done from a chartered accountant who will need inputs from you, for your project. There can't be a standard project report for a 2000 LPH plant. True, it can give you a nearby cost, but finally your overheads are different. Other costs like distribution cost, admin expenses will be different in each area.

Myth of a standard "Per Bottle Costing"

"What is the manufacturing and selling cost per bottle"

This is a usual question posted by so many people on youtube, since we have many videos on various aspects of packaged drinking water business. No fault of them. However, let me clarify this aspect through a post below :-

Manufacturing Costs are costs incurred while producing the packaged drinking water till a particular point in the whole business process. Let us assume that it starts with Groundwater extraction process and ends when the bottle is inspected for quality after producing & packaging in its required quantity, say 1 Ltr or 1/2 Ltr, and kept in ready condition for despatch.

Similar Way, Selling Costs are costs incurred right from leaving the factory, distribution through various points and ends when payment realizes in the account.

All the instances, where the business pays out something, is COST to the business.

Here, to calculate the exact, non-varying cost per bottle, we need following inputs :

How many bottles are produced in the time-cycle
What were the pay-outs during the same

In these cost components, certain are Fixed ( Indirect Expenses ) while certain are varying ( Direct Expenses ). Usually Indirect Expenses are constant irrespective of your production whereas direct expenses vary, change with the quantity of bottles produced.

To take an example; Admin/Office Expenses, Financial payouts are constant, whereas Preform, Label, Packaging Supplies payouts will change, vary as per the quantity of bottles produced during the day/ cycle/batch.

You may clearly understand that there is 1 component in the costing is non-varying, and another is varying. To match this cost, you will need :-

A fix production plan ( irrespective whether you have own plant or get it done )
This plan has to be flexible, which replies to changing market conditions
A non-defying commitment to execute this plan till we achieve first set of results, say 1st quarter.

Otherwise this blanket rule of "Per bottle Cost" is a pure shallow market pulling myth.

Let "Paper" be the deciding factor

Yesterday, I met a "would be" businessman in Packaged Drinking Water. Age : 50's. Some important Q n A between him & me ....

Q : What is the Capacity of Your Plant ?

A : 60 BPM. I'm buying an Old Machine

Q: And the RO Plant ?

A: Not a confident answer ( couldn't specify)

Q: How much Total Investment You have decided to put-in ?

A: Whatever it comes to. Till Now, I've put in some 15 Lakhs, let it be anything. I will see to it that it succeeds. I will always be a King, and if not, drop the whole thing. ( Then he presented a so-called think big slang from his community )

Now, he started Questioning me.

His Q: How much is the profit per bottle ?

My A: Per bottle profit is Gross. It will increase or decrease as per your daily production. You need to make at least 10,000 bottles per day & sell them for 3-4 years, then you will come out of your investments, with a minimum 25% ROI.

His Q: See ...One gentleman who asked my piece of land ( 5000 sft ) on rent has agreed to pay Rs. 30,000 per month. And he is putting a Packaged Drinking Water Plant on my land. If he is making Rs. 30,000, he's definitely making better money. Then why not me ?

From here, it was more a discussion, no QnA

Me : The logic is good. However, tell me , the person from whom you have been inspired, what is his background.

He: Prior to Covid, he was in this same line. He has been doing it for years.

Me: So, this is his another plant, right ?

He: No, first venture. All these years, he has been working for someone.

Me: Sir, with all due respects to your optimism, I suggest you to be ready with a proper financial statement for 5 years. I suggest to go for smaller but New set of machines. Start with a small distribution business first, and when you build sufficient client base, launch your own plant

Conclusions :-

Look Carefully whom are you listening to. Follow him/her if he/she has implemented the model.
Working as the manager of a business, be it a CEO, still is very different from being a Business Owner.
If it's a first gen business, learn to sell first. Start small. Build community. Learn to accept "Nos". If you still persevere, you are the right cut for Business.
Be paper smart. Prove your credentials on paper with a financial Consultant, a CA, then venture.
Emotions ? Yes, important, as a prime-mover. Then keep them aside. Let Paper guide you from time to time. What gets measured, gets achieved.

Tata is NOT buying Bisleri : As of Now

So, Tata Consumer has officially confirmed that they won't be buying Bisleri as of yet. And the deal is still on, for Bisleri.

Many say that the asked price by Bisleri was not agreed upon by the Tatas.

Some say, Jayanti, daughter of Mr Ramesh Chauhan has sprung back to lead & control.

We can't exactly know these reasons. However, a profound business house like Parles, Ramesh Chouhan in particular, is well verse with game of buying-selling brands, he has already done it quite successfully with his own brands like Gold-Spot, Limca etc. He has sold these to Coca-Cola. So, the game is not at all new to him.

Have these trading skills transferred to Jayanti ? Might be. However, his wisdom & experience in this game must be in working. He knows that the 1990's Chauhan is not the same as of today, 30 years later; and the buyers are also not the same. Bisleri what it was way back in 1993, is not the same as well. It is BUILT systematically & deserves the price Chauhanji is asking for. How much is the buyer's concern, but surely there is no match to Bisleri as such. If Tatas fail to buy it, they will be loosers for sure.

Chauhanji will find a buyer, he must be already in the game, as it's very obvious to him, and naturalistic too. Let's wait & watch for who buys out Bisleri .....

Do You know how Bisleri came to India ?

Bisleri is associated with pure water in India. However, it's not an Indian name, It's Italian. It's a Last name, we call it Surname.

An Industrialist-Inventor from Italy, Felice Bisleri (1851-1921), already had 3 successfully setup products under his belt :

A liqueur named Ferro-China Bisleri.It's still sold.
A Medicine called Esanofete for fighting Maleria. It's a herbal tonic. Not aware whether it's still in market or not. However, ingradients for this were supplied from Indian plants, from.1920. It looks like that the son-in-law of Felice Bisleri setup these plant(s) in India ( reasons unknown).
A Mineral Water called Nocera Umbra named after the town which has pure healing waters. This is still available. In 2019, there was a post of Facebook about completing 125 years.

Later after the World War-II, in 1955, Felice's grandson appointed Dr Rossi, (family friend who had recently settled in India) to start a Bottled Water Business in India, under brand Bisleri. He soon joined hands with Khushroo Suntook, son of Mr Suntook, the custodian of enemy properties. Italy was an enemy country and all of their held properties were seized post war. These details are not known much. But Bisleri what we know now, was first setup at Wagle Estate, Thane in 1965 by this duo.

Cutting the long story short; In 1967, it was bought by the Chauhans. Jayantilal Chauhan, who later, in 1970 made 2 parts, the Bisleri part came to Mr Ramesh Chauhan.

Here it was the beginning of a great brand called Bisleri

(References from Internet)

First effect of Bisleri-Tata proposed deal .... The Share Market

Any thing happens in the corporate world, first reaction is on the stock market. It happened with the Bisleri-Tata deal as well. Still this is just a news, but very widely shared on Media. Hence there must be considerable amount of truth behind it. However, it hasn't still taken place, we should understand.

Bisleri is NOT listed on BSE or NSE, hence it's not traded publically. However, the bottling factory for Bisleri, Orient Beverages has hit it's 5-year High in last week. You may check the performance on stock market, as this is not a place for this. However, we shall discuss on why it must be trending. I could see major 3 reasons :-

Bisleri is a great brand, however, if Tata groups takes it over, there are chances of getting it better, as TATA is a national & huge brand. It's believed that you will only flourish when you get attached to the Tatas.
By the virtue of it, the bottlers for Bisleri also will get benefitted. Not just because Tata is taking it over, but they will get other brands of premium TATA beverages as well.
The Packaged Drinking Water Industry is not much in organized sector. Only a few like Orient beverages is a listed company. Hence investors see an opportunity to own a stake in this flourishing unit though buying the equity.

However, it will be wise to observe Tatas further actions. Whether they enhance the existing Bisleri business or maintain status-quo for the packaged drinking water. As Packaged Drinking Water is mainly a low-profit business. If they are buying mainly for the bottling, distribution facilities + the brand, they might use this combined factor to penetrate their more profit making brands.

If we keep on tracking quarterly performance of Orient Beverages, things can get clearer.

I have written an article on this deal earlier, one can read that.

There is also a Video

Bisleri-Tatas Deal : An Analysis ....

Bisleri getting sold to Tatas

There is a lot of news in the financial sector about the biggest brand in Packaged Drinking Water : Bisleri is selling it's business to Tata Consumer Products. The takeover is yet to happen or might have happened as well, till reader is reading this post. Some points of note for learning from this whole incident :-

Why is TATA buying this ?

Portfolio Enhancement and Distribution-ready Network

Tata is already into the beverage segment & has been observed to introduce one brand after the other. It already has Himalayan Water as natural mineral water. In addition it has Tata Copper (Earlier, there was Tata Water Plus) in the low value segment. It is not packaged drinking water, but a product sold at same price to target the same market. In addition it has Tata Gluco Plus & Frusti (These are pitched as Energy Drinks and targeted similarly for relevant audiences).

By buying out Bisleri, they are also into this thirst-quenching water business, which attacks the basic need of a human being, drinking water, moreover : Pure & Safe Bottled drinking water, which the BIS has categorized as Packaged Drinking Water. Kindly note that even the Tata Copper Plus is NOT packaged drinking water, though the packaging looks similar.

It would be interesting to know as to Why Tatas never opted to enter as a Standalone brand in Packaged Drinking Water.

Is it because the segment is too crowded, dominantly inorganized and not much profit-centric ? God knows. However, Tatas have never observed to be competing aggressively with packaged drinking brands like Bisleri/Kinley/Aquafina/Clear/Oxyrich.

It's equally interesting to know what has made them buying Bisleri now.

The packaged drinking water proposition wouldn't have been attractive then, however, with Ramesh Chouhan ( Bisleri owner ) coming forward with sale offer, Tatas would have thought this as a convenient deal to try their hands-on.

Let's examine the gain-points for Tatas through this deal :-

Mfg-Distribution facility Getting a ready-made business with established factories, contract packers ( 130+ ) & distribution ( 4500+ ) network & Own Delivery Vehicles ( 6000 + ) . They have to just put-in money.While continuing Bisleri as their Bread (not butter) giving product; the ready-made distribution will be available to Tatas to push their butter giving products gradually. The Customer Touch Points for Bisleri is also a "Gain" factor for Tatas, and for the sellers, Tata is also a great brand.
Opportunity to cater to an enhanced market. After Covid-19, the demand for PURE drinking water has increased drastically, packaged drinking water is on the rise. This is a 10-15% growth rate segment.
Opportunity to use Bisleri's brand value for existing profit making products. For the water business owners, money lies in the Value Added Water Based Drinks, though not BIS approved. These drinks are the Tonic Water, Lemon Water and similar varieties. Tatas can push these drinks gradually under great brand like Bisleri.

Challenges Which they might incur :-

Rs. 7000 CR is a huge debt even for giants like Tatas. Interest Burden is heavy. The story is different from Jaguar, because comparatively, Bisleri Business is a low-profit business. Just 7% margin. (FY 2021 Bisleri Ended with NP of 100 CR from Sales of 1472 CR). Somewhere I did see a mention of making 220 CR from 2,500 CR in 2022. However, while examining results, we should check the Operational Profits, not from other sources.
Overall, Packaged Drinking Water is not an attractive Business for Corporates. The majority (65%) market is ruled by inorganized sector. For Mr Ramesh Chaouhan, it might be another great deal ( He has done with other popular brands of his own like Thumps Up, Limca etc...), but interestingly, the most obvious buyers like Pepsi ( Aquafina Owners ) Or Coca-Cola ( Already owning Chauhan's old Thumps brand & owning Kinley ) have not been seen to be on stage. Instead it's heard that Reliance Retail ( Ambani Group ) and Danone ( Evian Water Owners ) have made offers.
Duplication. Great Brand can be winner or killer at times. With so much inorganized sector domination; Duplicators are many; and there can be a tremendous Legal Cost to monitor this. See how Pepsi has to fight for its Mountain-Dew brand. Mountain Dew is comparatively very small & its duplicators also. But for huge penetrator in India Market like Bisleri, the legal operations cost can be huge. May not be that justifiable with the cost involved.
Typical "Distributor" type approach. While looking at the market segment where Bisleri has anchored themselves in, Price-Hike seems very difficult. Going for an MRP of Rs.25 from Rs. 20 looks difficult now. Out of Rs. 20, Bisleri has to offer Rs. 10 to distributor, leaving them with just 7-8 % NP.

Learnings for a Bottled Water Business Owner :-

It's all in the Brand

I don't just mean Brand Name. Because Bisleri doesn't carry any meaning, it's no way a familiar name to us-Indians. It's the way the business built around it. Mr Ramesh Chouhan bought this business from an Italian in late 60's. Till '93 he didn't have major plans, but later he has made this not just another brand, but a category by itself. We call .... "Bhai ek Bisleri de do" and then he brings packaged drinking water. This is "Brand".

The sooner we learn this, the better we benefit. It's never late, we can start from today !

It's also the great Distribution Network

Bisleri at present has 4500 distributors, 6000 vehicles & over 10 Lakh customer touch points ( The points of sale ). Bisleri also has a great training module. They have an excellent audience knowledge for their industry.

Network of Contract-Packers

Source of Water for a Packaged Drinking Water Plant is usually the Borewell. And water from the source plant cant be transported to distances. Hence Bisleri identified this limitation very quickly while building a network of Contract Packers ( 135 as of now ) across the country. Advantage : Bisleri will be available at the same rate at Kanpur as well as Madurai.

Acknowledging the Forthcoming Challenges

Bisleri acknowledged the SUP ( Single Use Plastic ) challenge well in advance & started a drive called Bottles for Change way back since 2016. How does this matter ? : In this drive, Bisleri collects back used bottles and sends them for recycling.

Exit, if you can't hold it

It's said that Mr Chouhan, nowadays does not keep physically well ( He's already 82 ). At the same time doesn't have a successor to run this show ( his daughter has shown no-interest ). What can be the most ideal time tan this to get out of this with a huge cash ! Certainly a great timing again.

Magfast Beverages Using Pepsi Brand : Innocence or Deliberate ?

The Case

Pepsico recently won the battle for usage of its brand " Mountain Dew " in Hyderabad High Court against rivals Magfast Beverages. Here are the case highlights in brief :-

Magfast Started Packaged Drinking Water in the name of "Mountain Dew"
Pepsi owns this, henced filed a case against them
First round, magfast wins as Pepsi hasn't filed it for Packaged Drinking Water
Pepsi didn't agree, went to High Court.
High court gives a decision to let Pepsico use it exclusively & Magfast can't use.

Let's see the major reason ground & discuss on that :-

Court says that Pepsi has registered that in India, in 1985, which Magfast says that they were not aware.

Can it be ? I doubt. It could have been carelessness. Or over confidence.
Or can be sincere attempt. Pepsi doent make water under Mountain Dew Tradename. Packaged Drinking Water Business started booming from 2003 onwards. Till then there was no category as well in the said class.

Though products are different, still belong to same category as they are sold on the same counter

This is partially true. However, if Magfast was into 20 Ltr Jars only; story could have been different. But yes, Beverages market segment is same.

You can find a Video Case Study on this here

Importance of Recycled Bottles

Aquafina has started a new initiative in AMESA region. AMESA stands for Africa, Middle East & South Asia. Recycled PET Bottles. It's doing a lot of things to do this. naturally it's all done to improve the ESG rating of the brand owner : Pepsico. Their ESG rating seems to be at risk. Look at Coca-Cola. Not a great rating ( Great is > 70) but medium and much higher than rival - Pepsico.

Naturally, They are starting with their most bottle - PET consuming product : Water, and hence Aquafina.

Women Empowerment & Water ATM ....

In an article** I saw a lady writes about how Water ATM is coming out to be a Women Empowermentvehicle. I really do not know how much realy study made behind this; but frankly speaking, the Govtfunded Water ATMs have not been success so far. The reason is "Funding".

Profit should be the driver, not "Fund"

Business is run by profit. Profit is earned by providing "Value" to consumers. This happens through a proper business plan & structure spread over for years. Hence the one who starts the venture should be aware that the "Fund" is for making more revenue than expenses, and still providing pure "value".

Govt Funding Model ... absence of this approach

When govt claims to be empowering people through entreprise, is there a proper mentoring available ? Is it properly supervised ? Or just model placeholders just for the sake of it ?

Let's talk business, guys !

Let it be a very small venture, ultra-small. But well thought. Marketing & Innovation driven. Let Her try to make a sale prior to any funding. No hurry for funds.

Post your thoughts......

** https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/empowering-women-one-water-atm-at-a-time/

Marathon : Good Opportunity for Water Bottlers

As a Water Business Owner, one must constantly look at newer & newer opportunities through which they can reach people. One of those is Branding and the other is push marketing. Today I came across an article where a Marathon is organized "Neerathon". That too, it's a Water Business Specific Marathon.

An excellent opportunity to be a sponsor.

What Next ?

Branding is fine, however, keeping the brand promise calls for a great execution strategy in place. Very first the communication channel, and then delivery of the promise. Branding definitely elevates your image. But it's an expense. Huge expense. You need to have a supporting Marketing Plan for this. If you do not have this, you will surely fail. A bitter truth. Hence... Build Reserves with strong execution. Start Small. Branding initially can be done with small stakes.

Where do You Start ?

A Business Model Canvas can be the best thing to begin with. Write to us through the comment section if you are keen to develop one.

How do you find the number of pure drinking water units in karnataka or in your state

Let's be clear : Pure by the B.I.S. norms. B.I.S. is the central govt authority which issues ISI license to the "Pure" drinking water units. BIS also has a portal through which one can find out the number of units in his/her state. You can check this video :-

The same method can be used to find out in any state.

Water Sommelier : Is it a fad ?

I have been reading for last almost 3-4 years about this term "Water Sommelier". There is a website which covers many informative articles on bottled water which is not the thirst quenching water of you & me. The website is finewaters dot com. You can visit the same at your time.

They also offer something called as "Water Sommelier" Courses. After learning one understands what water is & what might be the impurities other stuff. What makes me sick is the etiquette thing they have attached to this. Water, agreed is contaminated at many places. However, to me, at the most, where I am not sure, particularly at unknown places, I take Packaged Drinking Water. Otherwise at home I drink the tap water. And what etiquette? Just with a hand funnel also we take & drink water.

To me, it is unnecessarily hyped profession.Look at an article recently published by a lady water sommelier in India :- https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/a-water-sommelier-wants-to-change-the-way-we-consume-this-overlooked-drink

However, your views are welcome.

Bisleri Moves into Sanitizers

It was strange to know this, the big Bisleri is entering into ...what ? ... yes ... Santizers. Though tactically they don't call it Sanitizers; still it is a competition with the sanitizer biggies like dettol, and others.

Read this article :- https://www.afaqs.com/news/mktg/we-are-aiming-for-the-post-covid-hand-hygiene-space-says-bisleris-anjana-ghosh

Why would it be ?

Is the water market getting crowded ? Bisleri shouldn't bother much; as still it holds 60% market share, and performing well over others.
Is it that they want to be seen as a diversified player ?
Or simply the stakeholder's mood ?

They are saying, they are entering after everyone else using the "last mover advantage" ; however, they pitch themselves as the pioneers in the bottled water market. Sounds funny.

God knows what's the intention; looks really strange. However, Bisleri hasn't done well with its parallel energy drinks as well, just a sidenote. They might claim this, but masses know bisleri for its water, not for any of its energy drinks so far !

Consider Rainwater Harvesting

We take Govt norms sometimes as a kind of those unnecessary things, which the govt makes us follow. This is a wrong assumption. Same is the case with Rainwater Harvesting. How ?

How Rainwater harvesting will help you generate profit ?

( You may also refer to this Video )

The Bottled Water Plants actually extract groundwater & treat that with RO. In this process, it removes the TDS from the groundwater. Usually, the extracted groundwater is stored in Raw Water Tanks before processing at the Water Treatment Plant. If Rainwater, being almost Zero TDS water is mixed in these tanks, it will reduce the total TDS of the water in the Raw Water Tanks. This will result in the following benefits :-

Decreased Groundwater Demand
Increased life of the RO system
Reduced wastage from RO Plant
Tax benefit at the municipal level

How to Implement This at the plant ?

While construction, build a proper rainwater collection system on roof tops & elsewhere. Build a sufficient capacity storage tank. It's easy. Your Architect can guide you on this.

Branding helps cross-segmentation

Once you establish your brand, you can take it to anywhere. And if you have a B2C brand, that too, an FMCG product, you have better chances. In addition, if you have an established distributors network, it works like magic. You just need vision.

Kinnera : An example of this

Telangana State Cooperative Oil Seeds Growers Federation Limited (TS- Oilfed) , are already popular in Telangana State where the market their Oil with Vijaya Brand. Having surplus groundwater water, and an established distribution network, they decided to go for a Packaged Drinking Water Plant , way back in 2019. However, now, they are fully ready with the plant & the products will be seen in the market shortly. Original News Here.

Takeaway :-

Once a brand is established , one can even go cross segments, if the ultimate market remains same.

Water ATM's need a self sustaining model !

The Govt funded ATM's don't work

Update : Dec 2022 :-

In Karnatak, recently there was an internal survey conducted it is found once again that the Govt funded model ( though the intentions are noble ) does not work. The sorry condition is : They built the ATMs, they couldn't run them, they demolished !

April 2021

Look at this latest news from Hyderabad, that the Water ATM's installed in 2017, many of them are in defunct condition, meaning , not functioning at all. Why is it like that ? Clearly , they were funded & not run as someone's business. When it's the responsibility by the Govt, who looks over the deliverables ? From the pics in the video , it looks like some NGO from Sweden has donated some money for the project. It's pure waste of money & effort & just faking the people.

Here is an Opportunity

There is an opportunity for private players to run such Water ATM's, they can install & charge Rs. 2- to Rs. 3 per 500ml or so & still make a good amount of money. Any local NGO fund like a Rotary Club from the local area can fund the entrepreneurs and a mediator agency can be appointed to check whether the business is being run properly.

Alternate ( Better ) Model

Alternatively , an entrepreneur can establish franchise run Water ATM business as well. With a proper training, the entrepreneurs can be trained to operate & maintain these Water ATMs. this needs to be taken very seriously. This should be run as a Business. The idea should be funded as a loan, not the Setup.

New fssai Order for Packaged Drinking Water & Natural Mineral Water

Recent Order by the fssai dtd 26th March

With ref to this order the fssai has made it compulsory to get BIS license before getting fssai license for Packaged Drinking Water & Packaged Mineral Water. It further says, that there are many manufacturers found who have fssai license & don't have BIS license.

So, let's finally accept, that there ARE producers of Packaged Drinking water without a BIS license, and the govt has accepted this. Though the BIS has made this under it's mandatory certification list, there are many manufacturers : meaning they have a mfg unit 9or claiming to have.

A Welcome Move

Now, before applying/Renewal, fssai will require the BIS valid registration copy to be uploaded on their portal. It says :-

Little More Clarification Needed

fssai says FBO. FBO means food business operators. It consists of producers (manufacturers) as well as the distributors as well. Both require registrations/licenses. I am sure the new order is for those who claim they manufacture PDW or NMW, still it should be made clear as to, in case of a distributor or a co-packer, what should be the pre-condition, as they use someone else's BIS certifications.
Secondly, some more clarification needed for other types of water such as Alkaline Water, Flavoured Water, Aerated Water, Tonic Water. They can be registered with fssai without the BIS license. There should be certain clear order on this.

Banning Bottles below 1 Ltr : Is this a correct step towards restricting pollution ?

Recently , The Mokokchung district administration, Nagaland exercised a complete ban on Packaged Drinking Water Bottles below 1 ltr. Many states have experimented this in past or even in present.

What may be the general strategy ?

The admin must have implemented this to reduce the number of bottles with smaller denomination, indirectly reducing the total plastic. Looks right, at the face of it. Let's verify, whether it really serves the purpose.

It acts as a breakdown measure, something done to temporarily address the situation, not attacking the cause.
The cause is the habit of littering. Is something done to educate people on this aspect parallelly ?
There should be a drive to promote reverse vending machine usage at public places. This educates & rewards people more.
For recycling, some special "Feel Good" drive should be implemented by the govt. This will encourage citizens to recycle the plastic PET bottles.
As it is, almost 90 per cent of PET is recycled. There is no much point to include smaller bottles in the ban. This decreases the convenience of travelers and increases the usage of bigger sized bottles which provokes wastage of water ultimately.

In general, the policy looks good, however, the recycling should be more emphasized in parallel.

Does a Water Bottling Plant Waste 50% Water ?

Well, this is a very loose talk. Even the plant suppliers also sound very loose when they easily claim that 50% of water is only usable, & the rest is thrown, waste. This has to be corrected properly, let's do it :-

It's not 50 % flat

Agreed, the RO system, in a way to filter out even the dissolved solids, reject certain salts, which go with water. However, this depends upon how much quantity of salts or solids are there in it first. There are many minerals, the collective count is called as the TDS. Roughly the count of the TDS will give you how many these salt particals are there in the Raw Water. It's measured in PPM (Particals per million) : How many salt particals are there in 10 Lakh total Water Particals.

There is a simple device called TDS Meter, which can easily tell you about the same. If the TDS is 200, meaning just 200 particals in total 10 Lakh (1 million) particals. Depending upon the level of impurity it is decided as to how much water can be bottled as pure water. It can be 90% also if the raw water is of very good quality.

It's not waste, It's Reject Water

It is allowable to used in own toilets/sanitary system or trees/plants/gardens to be used which ultimately will flow to the sewage system to get further filtered ultimately. Hence it is NOT waste water, it's reject water.

Can the Reject Water be re-used ?

Technically, yes. Practically : Not advisable for Water Bottling Plants. Why ? You can read a special post here on Zero Liquid Discharge Plants