Empee Distilleries Ltd, which has finalised plans to set up a 100 kl a day distillery near Chennai, is expanding its presence in the southern States through tie-ups and contract manufacturing, according to Nisha Purushothaman, Joint Managing Director.

She said the company will invest about Rs 120 crore in a molasses-based distillery at Gummidipoondi near Chennai.

It has readied land for the project in the vicinity of a brewery unit of its subsidiary Appollo Distilleries.

The company, which follows a October-September financial year, recently commissioned new projects, including a grain-based alcohol plant in Andhra Pradesh.

It has also finalised a tie-up with United Spirits Ltd (USL) in Karnataka expects to see the benefits in the coming fiscal.

Empee Distilleries recently started commercial production at its blending and bottling unit for Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in Kolar, Karnataka, following a tie-up with Bangalore-based USL.

Nearly one-third of the total capacity of the unit, or about 70,000 cases a month, is committed to USL, initially. Empee will also launch its own brands, Purushothaman said.

In Kerala, too, the company has a 2 lakh cases a month capacity unit which produces IMFL brands for Radico Khaitan and Jagjith Industries, apart from producing Empee brands.

Empee plans to introduce premium brands in the rum and brandy markets, she said.

In Tamil Nadu, the company has obtained clearance to launch two premium brands of brandy. It has a capacity to produce 4.19 lakh cases a month of IMFL and operates at a capacity of 3-3.5 lakh cases.

It hopes to expand in Andhra Pradesh through contract manufacturing arrangements with other bottlers. A 60 kl a day grain-based alcohol plant in the State, at Sangareddy, went on stream last month. This unit sells the spirit to IMFL manufacturers, she said.

The sale from the grain-based plant will add significantly to the top line. A rule-of-thumb estimate puts the turnover for a full year at Rs 100 crore. For the nine months ended June 2013, the company reported a turnover of Rs 456 crore and a net profit of Rs 10.57 crore. balaji.ar@thehindu.co.in

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