Liquor consumption to cross 19K million litres by 2015: ASSOCHAM

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Registering a robust growth of about 30 per cent on YoY basis, alcohol consumption in India will cross 19,000 million litres by 2015 from the current level of 6,700 million litres, apex industry body ASSOCHAM said today.

Indias alcoholic beverage market comprising beer, wine and spirits will reach over Rs 1.4 lakh crore mark in 2015 from current size of about Rs 50,700 crore, says an industry specific analysis of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Sizable middle class population with rising spending power and a sound economy are certain significant reasons behind increase in consumption of alcohol in India, according to an ASSOCHAM study on 'Latest Trends in Domestic Liquor Market. India is one of the fastest growing alcohol markets in the world and largest consumer of whiskey which accounts for almost 80 per cent of the entire liquor market. Owing to Indias affinity for hard liquor, Indian whiskey market which currently stands around Rs 40,500 crore is expected to cross Rs 54,000 crore mark within next two years. But with the number of youngsters and income levels on the rise, popularity of beer made from malt is increasing and is expected to reach 2.4 billion litres by 2012, said ASSOCHAM study. Indian liquor market which is divided into various categories like IMFL (Indian made foreign liquor), imported liquor, domestic liquor and country-made liquor, is brimming with growth. Of late, Indian consumers have developed fondness for imported

liquor and the market is crowded with various foreign brands. Awareness about health benefits associated with moderate drinking is another significant factor behind this upsurge as now more and more Indians are adopting a healthy lifestyle, highlights the study. Urbanisation together with ever-changing social norms, increased alcohol availability, high intensity marketing and relaxation of overseas trade rules have equally contributed to increased alcohol consumption. A significant but worrisome reason for increased liquor consumption is that boys and girls in their youth are resorting to drinking at a young age due to high disposable incomes, lack of parental supervision, changing society norms and peer pressure. Almost 45 per cent of 12th graders in metropolitan cities in India excessively consume alcohol and teenage drinking has risen by a whopping 100 per cent during the course of last 10 years, revealed a recent survey conducted by ASSOCHAM. India ranks as one of largest alcoholic beverage market across the globe considering that almost 70 per cent of alcohol in south-east Asia is produced in India. Besides, Indias contribution in total alcohol beverage imports in the region is nearly 10 per cent Kerela and Punjab are leading liquor consuming states in India with Kerela alone accounting for 16 per cent and Punjab accounting for 14 per cent of all the liquor consumed in India.

Further, states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are leading liquor consuming states in that order accounting for 40 per cent of all the liquor consumed in India. Union Territories of Chandigarh and Pondicherry also record high consumption levels and together account for almost 6 per cent of all the liquor consumed across India. Nearly 15 to 20 per cent of the liquor consumed annually is estimated to be counterfeit, causing tax loss to the state governments and brand reputation damage to the manufacturers.

Complete Information on Alcohol Industry in India

K.RAJA

Alcohol has a variety of uses; from industry to motor fuel and liquor making. There are about 100 distilleries in the country with annual installed capacity of 5.5 lakh kilolitres of power alcohol. Besides there are 70 sugar mills with distillery units producing power and industrial alcohol. Uttar Pradesh has more than 50 per cent of total installed capacity of alcohol in the country. It has 20 sugar mills with alcohol distilleries. Among other important producers mention may be made of Maharashtra (10%), Andhra Pradesh (10%), Bihar (5 per cent), Karnataka, Punjab, and West Bengal.

India has a well developed liquor industry starting in the last part of the 19th century. It includes different brands of wine, whisky, brandy, rum, gin and beer. The total production of liquor was 40,159 kilolitres in 1994-95 which increased to 71,528 kilolitres in 1997-98 exhibiting an increase of 78 per cent during the 3 years. This is due to the lifting of ban on the manufacture and sale of liquor in many states of the country. About 56 per cent of the total production of liquor is in the form of country liquor. Besides molasses, grapes, apple, cashew, mahua, coconut, date palm, rice and barley are other raw materials used in liquor making. At present, there are 33 units manufacturing beer having an estimated annual output of 4.33 lakh kiloliters in 1997-98; the output in 1994-95 being 2.78 lakh kilolitres. Solan in Himachal Pradesh; Rampur, Nawabganj, Rose and Daurala in Uttar Pradesh; Kolhapur in Maharashtra; Bangalore in Karnataka; Chennai in Tamil Nadu; Bhadrakali and Kalyani in West Bengal; Udaipur in Rajasthan and Jagatjitnagar in Punjab are important centers producing liquor and beer in the country India imports some good quality liquor from foreign countries mainly from Europe and America. It also exports Indian made liquor to neighbouring countries of Asia and Africa. During 1995-96 India

imported Rs. 40.93 crore worth of beverages, spirits and vinegar against the total export of Rs. 45.85 crores. The corresponding figures for the year 1988of foreign tourists was 2.37 million whichuted a foreign exchange earnings of $ 3 billion, other countries in our neighbourhood like Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore had higher als and better earnings. of foreign tourists was 2.37 million whichuted a foreign exchange earnings of $ 3 billion, other countries in our neighbourhood like Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore had higher als and better earnings. Development Table 23. X shows that there has been significant increase in the international tourism after Independence. While the total arrival of international tourists was only 16,380 contributing Rs. 7.7 crores to the country's economy in 1951, the arrivals increased to 2.38 million providing $ 3 billion of foreign exchange to the country in 2002. During 1998 the number of international tourists increased to 23,74,094 with foreign exchange earnings of $ 3 billion (in 2000 about 26.4 lakh tourists). Similarly there has been considerable increase in domestic tourism. According to the

Ministry of Tourism, Govt, of India about 150 million people travelled from their place of residence to outside places for business, leisure or pilgrimage (in 1999 about 178 million people). Amongst the countries contributing more than 50,000 tourists to India during 2000 Bangladesh tops the list (441,168), fol- lowedby United Kingdom (354,217), US A (309,309), Sri Lanka (128,444), Canada (98,259), Australia (90,456), France (89,565), Germany (84,889), Japan (79,167) Malaysia (57,927) and Italy (52,529). Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Srinagar, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir); Shimla, Manali, Kullu, Dharmasala, Chamba (Himachal Pradesh); Dehradun, Nainital, Mussorie, Rishikesh, Badrinatli, Kedarnath, Ranikhet (Uttaranchal); Agra, Varanasi (Samath), Lucknow, Kushinagar, Mathura, Ayodhya, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh); Patna, Nalanda, Gaya, Bodhgaya, Rajgir (Bihar); Ranchi (Jharkhand); Kolkata, Santiniketan, Daijeeling (West Bengal); Guwahati, Kaziranga (Assam); Shillong (Meghalaya), Bhubaneshwar, Chilka Lake, Puri, Konark (Orissa); Tirupati, Udayagiri, Hyderabad, Amravati, Warangal, Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh); Chennai, Udagamandalam (Ooty), Kodaikanal, Rameswaram, Kanniyakumari, Madurai (Tamil Nadu); Pondicherry (Pondicherry); Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala); Mysore, Bangalore, Jog falls, Gulbarga(Kamataka); Mumbai,

Elephanta, Ajanta, Ellora, Mahabaleshwar, Sevagram (Maharashtra); Gandhinagar, Dwarka, Somnath, Porbandar, Kachchh (Gujarat); Gwalior, Jabalpur, Panchmarhi, Amarkantak, Ujjain, Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh); Suratgarh, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Chittaurgarh, Bharatpur, Abu (Rajasthan), Kohima (Nagaland), Imphal (Manipur), Port Blair (Andaman Is.), and Goa are important tourist centers of the country.