India: Cobra Beer to set up a brewery in Hyderabad
Cobra Beer Ltd is planning to set up a greenfield brewery in Hyderabad, with a capital outlay of $10 million. The 80 million Pound Cobra Beer expects to commence production at its greenfield facility in Hyderabad by 2007, if construction is completed this year, Karan Bilimoria, company-founder, announced on January 17 2006. Mr. Bilimoria told newsagnecy NewKerala that the company already had a plant at Behror in Rajasthan, where about 200 people were employed.
The company is planning to start construction of the plant in the current year and it will go on stream by 2007. “The new plant will provide direct employment to at least 100 people,” he added.
The Hyderabad brewery, for which a ten million USD investment was envisaged, would be different from the one in Rajasthan, he said, adding Cobra Beer had found a party with the licence. In Rajasthan, an existing brewery had been upgraded. Also, the 'Pearl City' happened to be the place of his birth, he said.
The second facility was expected to handle a volume of two to three million cases annually, providing employment to over 100 people.
Mr. Bilimoria, determined to make 'Cobra Beer' a global brand, said it operated with a vision to brew the ''finest-ever'' Indian beer and unlike the lager available in UK, his ''indigenous product was less gaseous.'' Cobra Beer was set up in 1989. India accounted for 20 per cent of the company's revenues.
Outlining his future plans, Bilmoria said, “Our target is to become a global brand and we are aiming $1 billion in revenue by 2014.” In his scheme of things, India would have a prominent role. “We are targeting 20 percent revenue from India by that time,” he said.
Asked about Tamil Nadu not figuring in his plans, he said the company had encountered difficulties in obtaining licence. ''But within a few years, this market will also open up.'' Earlier, in his presentation at a seminar on 'Financing Growth in Emerging Economies in a Globalised World,' he said the environment in Britain was fantastic. It was one of the freest markets in the world to do business, making the competition intense.
The potential to increase trade, business and investment between India and UK, was enormous but there were barriers to investments in India, he lamented.
Mr Bilimoria, Chairman of the Indo British Partnership Network, was in the city as part of the 20-member business delegation from the UK, which accompanied British Trade Minister Ian Pearson.
The company has a current retail sales of over 80 million pounds. The beer is sold in more than 6,000 restaurants and 6,000 bars and pubs in the UK and exported to 40 countries. He claimed that Cobra beer was less gaseous and he was determined to make it a global brand.
Tilbage
E-malt.com, the global information source for the brewing and malting industry professionals. The bi-weekly E-malt.com Newsletters feature latest industry news, statistics in graphs and tables, world barley and malt prices, and other relevant information. Click here to get full access to E-malt.com. If you are a Castle Malting client, you can get free access to E-malt.com website and publications. Contact us for more information at marketing@castlemalting.com .
