India: Beer consumption rose to 1 litre per head

India's beer consumption vaulted 27% in FY07 to touch about 137 million cases, uncorking one of the best growth spells in recent times, according to available industry figures, The Economic Times of India reported May 9. In doing so, the domestic per capita consumption may have touched what many observers believe is the psychological threshold of one litre, up from 0.7 litre two years back.

According to the top two players- United Breweries (UB) and SABMiller-overall domestic consumption last year hovered around 135/137 million cases (of 7.8 litre each), up from 107/108 million in FY06. While industry leader UB controlled about 48% market share, SABMiller had a 37% share. SABMiller acquired Foster's during the year, adding around 2% market share.

While most of the relatively small-sized independent brewers continued to fight a grim battle, Mount Shivalik Group, makers of Thunderbolt strong beer, returned good figures primarily on account of the capacity constraints experienced by UB and SABMiller in North Indian markets during peak summer.

The biggest guzzler, Andhra Pradesh reported a whopping 32% jump to touch annual depletion of nearly 25 million cases, up from 18.3 million one year ago. Maharashtra came second with 21.8 million with Tamil Nadu following at around 17.5 million.

However, northern states of Haryana and Punjab turned up with unprecedented growth figures on the back of trade reforms and falling consumer price. Sources said Punjab could have ended FY07 with nearly 6 million cases, increasing from 1.3 million in the previous year, while sales in Haryana soared to 5.5 million from 1.6 million.

The neighbouring States of Delhi appears to have reported over 20% jump to around 7.5 million cases and Rajasthan showed up with 8 million cases. While some of the fastest growing markets are in north, the traditional beer turfs -Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka-together account for well over 50% of the overall domestic consumption.

The just concluded financial year also saw three global biggies unveiling India plans. The world's largest brewer by value, Anheuser-Busch, unveiled a JV with Hyderabad-based Crown Beer, while Carlsberg along with Sri Lanka's Lion Group announced a greenfield brewery in Rajasthan. Earlier last year, Heineken arm, Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) took 76% stake in Aurangabad Breweries, makers of Arlem and Cannon beers.

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