The government has withdrawn the ISI quality mark for bottled water produced at Bisleri's Bangalore plant and Pepsico's Bharuch factory in Gujarat in the wake of a storm over reported high concentration of pesticides in bottled water.

The drive against bottled drinking water companies through countrywide inspections comes less than a month of startling findings by an independent study showing that a bulk of the mineral water sold in India had very high levels of pesticide residues and it was not in conformity with the European norms.

The direction for withdrawal of ISI mark allotted to these eight units, which would practically make it impossible for them to operate in India, came from Consumer Affairs Minister Sharad Yadav on the grounds of failing to meet norms set by Bureau of Indian Standards or for flouting the existing regulations.

The units barred from using the ISI Mark under the minister's directive are Kothari Beverages, Thana; Ion Exchange, New Bombay; PepsiCo India Holding, Bharuch; Bisleri International, Bangalore; Vaibhav Aqua, Bombay; Sardul Mineral Water and Soda, Jamshedpur; Vaishali Mineral Water, Hazipur and Surat Beverages, Dadra.

"The minister has ordered withdrawal of ISI mark from bottled water produced in eight locations based on nationwide inspections carried out by the Bureau, as a result these plants are debarred from producing and marketing the commodity," a top BIS official told PTI.