NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday he has asked PepsiCo. and other soft drink giants to consider adding fruit juice to their sodas to boost the income of local farmers.

Modi said companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. should work with Indian research institutions and the country’s farmers to produce the healthier sodas.

“We drink Pepsi and Cola. And other similar beverages are also available in the market, with the trade worth billions of rupees,” Modi told a gathering in the southern state of Karnataka.

“I have asked these companies to examine if five percent natural fruit juice can be added to their drinks,” Modi said after inaugurating an industrial park for food processors in the city of Tumkur.

“Even the government research institutions are examining this idea.”

He said the move would hand India’s tens of millions of farmers, many of whom struggle to make a profit, a new market for their produce, while also reducing food wastage by processing unsold fruit.