The Hindu Business Line : Millennium plans 2 greenfield breweries in Rajasthan, Orissa

MILLENNIUM AlcoBev Ltd (MABL), a three-way beer joint venture between United Breweries, Scottish & Newcatle and Mr Ravi Jain, has firmed up plans for two new greenfield breweries in Rajasthan and Orissa at an estimated cost of Rs 56 crore.

Mr Ravi Jain, Managing Director, told Business Line that the company had already posted people on the location and work on the breweries was expected to start in the next three to six months.

The Rajasthan plant, with a monthly capacity of 2.5 lakh cases, would attract investment of Rs 30 crore, while the Orissa plant, which would go on stream with an initial capacity of 1.5 lakh cases, would cost Rs 26 crore. Both these breweries will have completely knocked down (CKD) plants, which is being preferred above high value acquisitions of independent domestic brewers.

Millennium currently has a monthly brewing capacity of 12.8 lakh cases spread across Haryana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The company's main brands include Zingaro, Sandpiper, Marco Polo, Turbo and Kalyani Black Label Strong. It expects to close the current financial year with sales of eight million cases, up from six million cases in 2002-03. The overall domestic beer market is expected to remain flat with sales hovering around 80 million cases annually.

Mr Jain said the two new breweries would be completed in 18 months. "The Rajasthan plant will ramp up to five lakh cases a month in future, while in Orissa we can double the initial capacity (of 1.5 lakh cases) at a later date," he said.

The company is completing quality and capacity upgradation across its five breweries. The breweries in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh will have a monthly capacity of three lakh cases each, while that in Tamil Nadu can produce 3.5 lakh cases. The Aurangabad brewery in Maharashtra will see a capacity addition of 50,000 cases taking the plant load to 1.5 lakh cases monthly. This has an inherent capacity of 7.5 lakh cases, which will be ramped over a period of time.

The brewery in Kerala remains the smallest but it could see capacity addition in the next round of upgradation a year down the lane. Zinagro remains Millennium's flagship brand, while Sandpiper, which has undergone a relaunch, is being pushed aggressively in selected markets before taking it national.

For instance, Sandpiper, backed by four television campaigns, has registered good growth in Kerala. The company is now slated to give Sandpiper a similar push in the crucial market of Andhra Pradesh, which happens to be the largest guzzler in the country.

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