Bisleri International Renews Indian Racing Festival (IRF) Partnership

Bisleri International has renewed its partnership with the Indian Racing Festival (IRF), continuing as the official hydration partner of the upcoming F4 Indian Championship and Indian Racing League.

The renewal builds on Bisleri’s landmark collaboration with the IRF in 2025, and will see the popular water brand maintain a presence across the festival’s 2026 calendar, which features six rounds of the F4 Indian Championship and four rounds of the Indian Racing League.

Under the renewed deal, Bisleri’s branding will be emblazoned across key race and driver assets, including the sidepods of race cars, the sleeves of drivers’ racing suits and festival kits. It also includes dedicated hydration zones at race venues, integrating the brand into the on-ground experience for drivers, teams and fans.

The collaboration will be further activated in the digital and social media, with Bisleri set to bank on driver-led content, short-form videos and behind-the-scenes action to engage audiences beyond the racetrack.

Tushar Malhotra, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at Bisleri International, said, “We’re thrilled to partner with Racing Promotion Private Limited as the Official Hydration Partner of F4 and the Indian Racing League. This association strengthens Bisleri’s presence across India’s evolving motorsport landscape and adds to our broader sports marketing programme, as we continue to champion hydration globally and create exciting engagement opportunities for our consumers.”

Akhilesh Reddy, Chairman & Managing Director, Racing Promotions Pvt. Ltd. (RPPL), added, “We are delighted to renew our partnership with Bisleri as the Official Hydration Partner of the Indian Racing Festival for the 2026 season. The success of our association last year demonstrated the strong synergy between two brands that are committed to performance, innovation and engaging with a young, dynamic audience.”

“As we enter an exciting new season, we look forward to building on this partnership through innovative fan experiences and meaningful initiatives that take the IRF experience beyond the racetrack. Bisleri’s continued support is an important part of our journey as we look to make motorsport more accessible, engaging and relevant to audiences across India.”

The 2026 IRF season comes with an expanded competitive and commercial programme, including the introduction of the new Navi Mumbai Street Circuit, which is poise to host the concluding rounds of the festival.

The renewal also comes as the Indian Racing Festival continues to widen its media and commercial footprint, including distribution across Star Sports regional platforms and JioHotstar.

As for Bisleri, the renewed partnership provides an avenue to deepen its engagement with Indian motorsport while combining conventional branding with experiential and content-led activations across two unique racing properties.

According to ASN data, Bisleri (17%, US$7.9m+) is the 2nd largest spender for the beverages: water category in the Asian sponsorship market since Q124, with a quarterly average investment of US$667k during this period. Q426’s forecast is poised to be optimistic and hit almost US$1.6m, almost 2.4x of the quarterly average investment. The brand tends to focus in sports, namely cricket, tennis, athletics and motorsports in India’s sporting landscape.