Drinking practices vary substantially among different countries and different masses. But both alcoholic beverages are very popular among all ages of people. The alcoholic drinks market is broadly classified into five classes, starting from beers, wines, hard liquors, liqueurs and others. The Indian alcoholic market has been growing rapidly for the last ten years, due to the positive impact of demographic trends and expected changes like rising income levels, changing age profile, changing lifestyles and reduction in beverages prices. Beer and wine are perhaps the oldest and most popular of all alcoholic beverages in the world.
India’s country liquor industry is known for chaotic business, and estimated at Rs 220 billion, with annual volume sales of over 200 million cases. Of course, the India-made foreign liquor (IMFL) sales are pegged at around 150 million cases, and growing at 8 to 10 per cent annually. IMFL and country made liquor account for the bulk of alcoholic consumption. The Indian beer Industry has been witnessing a steady growth rate of 7-9 per cent per year for the last ten years. Per capita beer consumption is still low at 0.7 litre per year. Though the current growth is pitched at 13 per cent, the total beer market is expected to more than double to 23.3 million hectoliters by 2012. Apart from Kingfisher and Foster’s Beer, the other brands in the Indian market are Carling Black Label, Carlsberg, Dansberg, Golden Eagle, Haywards 5000,Premium Lager, Kingfisher Strong, Hi-Five etc. to name a few. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for wine consumption on the global map. The Indian wines are growing annually at the rate of 25 per cent. With a population base of over 1.1 Billion, the consumption of wine is extremely low, indicating vast potential for future growth. Champagne Indage has been the pioneer in making French style wine in India. Grover Vineyards and Sula Vineyards too have made smart strides in a short time span. Recently, companies in the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) space like Diageo, United Breweries and Seagrams too have ventured into making wine. Other major’s players in this field are United Spirits Ltd, Mohan Breweries & Distilleries Ltd, Jagatjit Industries Ltd, Empee Distilleries Ltd. Radico Khaitan Ltd. ,Indus Wine .etc. to name a few. The total liquor industry is worth Rs 20 billion. IMFL accounts for only a third of the total liquor consumption in India. Most IMFLs are cheap and priced very low. Whisky accounts for 60 per cent of the liquor sales, while rum, brandy and vodka account for 17 per cent, 18 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
India presents a huge growth potential for alcoholic beverages sales. The government is planning to do away with the licence requirement for manufacturing potable alcohol. Scrapping the licencing requirement would boost manufacture of beer, wine, whisky, rum, brandy and other alcoholic beverages. Increasing GDP, favourable growth in the demographics with a growing urban middle class, growth of modern retail formats, hopeful rationalization of the taxation rules and ban on local country liquor and rising health consciousness, age preferences will act in favour of the growth of alcoholic beverages in India in the near future.
