About Us

About Brewers Association Of India

The Brewers Association of India (BAI) is the apex body of the Indian beer industry, representing India’s leading beer manufacturers such as United Breweries Limited (a Heineken company), AB InBev, and Carlsberg. Our members account for over 85% of the beer sold in India, operate over 55 breweries with an investment worth Rs 25,000 crores, and create employment for over 27,000 people in India.

THE CHARTER OF BAI

1. We are an association of Beer Companies

We are an association of companies/partnerships that make beer in India or have significant and inalienable stakes in beer supply chain in India.

2. We believe in Beer

We believe that Beer is a milder, more responsible form of alcohol that deserves positively diffferentiated policy support by the Governments.

3. We represent Industry interest

We represent the common and collective interest of the beer industry, and not of any individual or a company.

4. We believe in Market Forces

We stand for liberal and equitable laws that allow beer companies to operate freely, fairly and responsibly.

5. We promote greater public good and good corporate practices

We endeavour to earn greater trust of Government, consumers, and society by acting in conformity with law, and by encouraging behaviour and actions that create positive perceptions about the beer industry.

6. We agree to disagree

We acknowledge that in a voluntary association like ours, members will have different opinions, and while we would strive to build consensus, we acknowledge possibility of irreconcilable differences and then we agree to let wider view prevail and allow those dissenting pursue the matter on their own outside the Association if no consensus is reached.

WHY BAI

Globally, beer is the pre-eminent form of alcohol, accounting for 68% of alcoholic beverage volume, 40% of revenues, and 46% of absolute alcohol consumed. It accounts for $1 out of every $120 of the global GDP, $375 billion of taxes, and 33.5 million or 1% of all jobs. But in India it is grossly underdeveloped accounting for just 35% of volume and 20% of value. This underlines beer’s potential to boost Govt revenues in India. BAI is the brewers’ collaborative initiative to unlock the potential of beer in India to the benefit of all stakeholders, the industry, the Government, the consumers, the farmers, the suppliers and all other stakeholders.

We believe that the Governments in India should support beer because

* Substituting high alcohol beverages with low alcohol beverages like beer, also reduces harm and per capita consumption of alcohol without loss of overall Govt revenues

* Beer is all locally made. It supports local industries, from agriculture to hospitality, drives economic development, creates large investment in factory and logistics, and provides large employment through the production and supply chain to local communities

* 81% of the illicit alcohol globally is distilled alcohol. Beer is difficult to be produced or sold illicitly. Nudging consumers towards low alcohol products like beer incentivizes drinking regulated products, mitigates health risks associated with illicit alcohol, and prevent leakage of Government revenues.

* For thousands of years, beer has been at the heart of social rituals which builds local communities, bring people together and strengthen social connections in a light hearted and warm manner.

OUR PURPOSE

As a policy, we recommend to tax alcoholic beverages on the basis of the units of alcohol it contains, as is the guidelines by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of taxing Alcoholic Liquor based on “harm/ litre”. Since consumers buy the product for the alcohol it contains, the Excise duty for any alcoholic product, beer or IMFL, should be on the basis of the amount of actual alcohol it contains. A large number of countries in the world follow this practice.

BAI intends to engage with the Governments, opinion leaders, vendors & supplier groups, trade, consumer groups and other stakeholders to collectively evolve a regulatory system for beer in India that works to the benefit of all stakeholders. This would include,

1.Easy availability of beer: Many more retail shops, bars for beer, pubs, brewpub licenses

Beer is available to 1.5 billion people of India through just about 125000 outlets. That is perhaps the lowest outlet density in the world outside countries that limit alcohol due to religious reasons. Beer contains low amount of alcohol and is as a drink of moderation is loved by people all over the world. For thousands of years, it has been at the heart of local communities bringing people together and strengthening social connections. By improving availability of beer, the Governments can nudge consumers shift from hard liquor with high alcohol content to a milder, healthier option like beer which is also what the WHO recommends. Improving availability points of beer also helps the Governments fight illicit alcohol which is mostly distilled spirit and is source of social tragedies including hooch deaths.

2.Better affordability for beer: lower prices in absolute terms and in relation to spirits

86% value created by beer remain with local community, Beer prices are high in India compared to the rest of the world. But 65-70% of beer price in India is actually tax. We believe that the Governments should make beer a better value optionby reducing taxes in line with the lower alcohol content in beer. Since consumers buy the product for the alcohol it contains, tit makes logical sense to tax an alcoholic producton the basis of the amount of alcohol it contains. A large number of countries in the world follow this practice. This also what the WHO recommends.

3.Better Ease of Doing Business: Deregulate beer by adopting free market policies and faceless technology basedinteractions between the industry and regulators

All alcohol trade in India is overly regulated and follows archaic rules many of them are nearly a hundred years old. Whether manual controls on production, restrictions on product pricing, rigid control on trade licenses, physical and period approvals of registration and licenses, interstate movement restrictions, uneven drinking age across the countries, never-ending list of dry days, the list is just endless. It has been proven time and again that there is not system more efficient than the free market system. We want the Government to let companies operate as they wish and let the market forces decide their fate. We want the interactions between the companies and the regulators be entirely digitised and made faceless so that the industry can operate freely, efficiently and without undue hurdles and harassments.

4. Be part of One India - One market: bring consistency in policy across states and over time, remove inter-state restrictions on trade, and bring beer under GST.

India is one country. GST has been a great step forward towards making India one market. But for alcohol, every state makes its own rules. Those rules are often vastly different from each other and are changed year to year. Due to this, the industry finds it very difficult to make long term strategy, plan investment, and mobilise resources. We want beer to be part of the one India- one Market. We want to have same excise policies across the state, to have them for long term, and be part of the GST.

Our Leadership

Vinod Giri

Vinod Giri

Director General

Vinod is the Director General of the Brewers Association of India. He has three decades of corporate track record in companies such as Coca-Cola, Seagram and SABMiller in India and at the global level in marketing, sales and operations roles. Prior to the BAI, he headed Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) for six years.

Vivek Gupta

Vivek Gupta

MD and CEO, United Breweries Limited

Vivek is the MD and CEO of UBL, which is a part of the Heineken Company. Vivek has extensive experience in leadership roles across India and the world in some of the best known companies such as the Proctor & Gamble. He has also made successful transition to the start-up ecosystem with Udaan and then back to large corporate like United Breweries.

Nilesh Patel

Nilesh Patel

Managing Director, Carlsberg India

Nilesh is the Managing Director of Carlsberg India. Nilesh has a very strong track record in corporate world with experiences across Europe and Asia. Prior to this role he has worked with companies such as Heinz and also served as Asia Pacific president for Avon Cosmetics

Kartikeya Sharma

Kartikeya Sharma

President, AB-InBev India

Kartikeya is the President of AB-InBev India &South-East Asia. Prior to leading the company in the region in this role, he has held several key positions within AB-InBev, including roles in business development and marketing, besides co-creating the craft beer brand Seven Rivers.

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The Brewers Association of India (BAI) represents India’s largest beer makers such as the United Breweries Limited (a Heineken company), AB InBev, and Carlsberg who, together, account for 85% of the beer sold in India.

Important Links

Location

  • office@brewersindia.com
  • +91 11-42401921
  • www.brewersindia.com
  • New Delhi