India: Cobra Beer Ltd to launch its lager brand King Cobra by March 2006

Cobra Beer Ltd will launch its strong lager beer brand, King Cobra, in India by March 2006. The $150-million company is also firming up plans to set up a $10-million `greenfield' brewery in the country, said Sify Finance on November 30.

The brewery, which launched its premium Cobra Beer (from the Mount Shivalik Group-owned breweries in Rajasthan) early in January 2005, is also open to acquisition to expand in the growing domestic market, the CEO, Karan Bilimoria, said on November 29.

Contending that the `greenfield brewery' project was not delayed, Bilimoria said, "Our entry into India has been planned and gradual. First, we brought in Cobra Beer and priced it at the highend. Currently, we are brewing it in the country and by two years, we will have our own brewery, even as the market grows substantially."

He stated that the non-alcoholic brand, Cobra, is expected to hit the market any day. Launching the India-brewed Cobra Beer in his hometown Hyderabad, Bilimoria said, "Bangalore, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala are next in line for the launch of this premium league beer." | Read more Finance news. Stating that Andhra Pradesh is high on the company's radar for the greenfield brewery, Bilimoria told newspersons that by 2007, the target is to reach a million cases sales in the country.

At present, the Indian beer market is among the smallest in the world with annual sales of 85 million cases. Bilimoria said the market is projected to emerge as one of the biggest in the future. Beer is expected to slowly replace country liquor and once the Government liberalises, the market would expand rapidly.

On consumption patterns, he said while the per capitaconsumption in the UK is 100 litres; it is a meagre 0.5 litres in India. Similarly, while the UK has 60,000 pubs, India has a total of 50,000 licensed outlets.

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