The Hindu Business Line : Cobra Beer plans brewery in AP

COBRA Beer, owned and managed by the India-born British billionaire, Mr Karan Billimoria, would soon unveil plans for its first greenfield brewery in the country in Andhra Pradesh.

This follows the State Government's recent move to lift a freeze on new brewing licences, which has been restricted since the late 70s.

Mr Perses Billimoria, Regional Director, Cobra Beer India Pvt Ltd, said the company was actively pursuing plans to set up its first brewery in Andhra Pradesh.

"We could look at starting work on the project within a year," he said, even though the company has not yet freezed the capacity and technical specifications of the planned project.

Hence, the investment outlay was not available at the moment.

Mr Karan Billimoria, the founder of the Cobra Beer and an influential British Asian, reviewed prospects of the proposed project on his visit to India in recent weeks, informed sources said.

Mr Billimoria has his origins in Hyderabad, and this along with the steady growth of beer consumption in Andhra Pradesh could be the factors that may have prompted Cobra Beer to look at Andhra Pradesh for its first greenfield project.

Andhra Pradesh is the largest guzzler with annual beer depletions pegged at 16 million cases in an overall national market estimated at over 82 million cases.

Cobra's plans in this regard received a big boost with the State Government deciding to issue new brewery licences to interested applicants who deposited Rs 2 crore, which would be adjusted against the licence fee, sources said.

The State currently has five operating breweries and their cumulative capacity is not enough to service the consumption demand as 30 per cent of the monthly sales are imported from the neighbouring States.

The State administration has steadfastly refused to issue fresh licences in recent years despite interest shown from domestic independent brewers and multinational such as Foster's.

It must be mentioned that the State has granted only three new brewing licences - for Charminar brewery in Hyderabad, GMR Vasavi brewery in Srikakulam and Deccan brewery at Ongole — in the last two decades when it experimented with prohibition twice.

SABMiller-managed Shaw Wallace Breweries Ltd is the market leader with 64 per cent share of the beer sales in the State followed by United Breweries (UB).

Cobra Beer is currently contract manufactured at Mount Shivalik brewery in Rajasthan, and retails in New Delhi at Rs 30 per 330 ml and Rs 50 per 650 ml pack. The British beer brand plans to expand its retail presence to the top eight cities shortly.

The £50 million Cobra Beer has presence in 30 countries and the proposed greenfield project in India would be the first for the company, which supplies to markets around the world from two contract breweries in Bedford (UK) and Poland.

The beer made its presence felt in the UK as an authentic Indian beer sold through the curry restaurants in that country, and according to reports, the 5,500 odd South Asian restaurants still account for about half of the brand's annual sales revenue.

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