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According to a report in TOI, seven Expression of Interests have been received by the Maharashtra Industrial Development of Corporation (MIDC) which set up the Godavari Wine Park in 2001 to promote wine production, to set up seven new wineries. Each applicant has sought one to two acres of land for the projects. Their investment in these new wineries is expected to range from Rs 7.5 million to 69 million. At present, the district has 37 wineries.
The state government developed the Godavari Wine Park at Vinchur in 2001 to promote the wine industry. Of the total 133 hectares, the wine park was developed on 83 hectares. Since there was not sufficient demand for wineries, the balance 50 hectares have been now reserved for food processing units.
Only five wineries have become operational so far in the wine park including Vinsura which has been sick for quite a few years, Flamingo which was on the verge of collapse till it made an Agreement with Sula to sell them bulk wine. Vine and Velour set up by the Sarda Group-owned Indian Food Industry, is on the verge of closing, according to sources. Ashwin Rodriguez who was instrumental in bonding the ‘Wines of India’ group a few months ago to promote Indian wines as a Brand, has built his own new winery Good Drop Cellars within this complex as well.
A big boost could come from Sula which reportedly has bought land in the complex and would ostensibly put up a winery to supplement its burgeoning requirement of wine due to the consistent growth.
Talking of growth, the top three wine companies with an estimated sale of 950,000 cases (Sula), 200,000 (GroverZ) and 110,000 cases (Fratelli) are on a successful course, expanding 20-35% over the previous years, proving that it is not only the wine quality but the marketing and business acumen of the producer that is an important requirement of the wine business.
The total investment in the proposed seven new wineries is expected to be Rs 200 million and they will generate around 175 employment opportunities, according to MIDC.
India has 93 wineries (at least registered-with licenses) out of which Maharashtra has 75 of them, producing 80% of the total wine production; 37 of them are in Nashik alone, making it the self-proclaimed wine capital of India. Maharashtra accounts for almost 90% of the total grape wine production.
The wineries in Nashik district are in the thick of the harvest season with red wines being under harvest and the crushing in full swing. The process goes on till the middle of April. The wineries in the district are expected to crush 15,000 metric tonnes of grapes to produce around 10 million litres of wine. Due to various factors, the major being the reduced supply and a sudden increase in the demand from Karnataka which has seen huge dwindling of supplies due to unusual heavy rains during the flowering season late last year, the prices of the grapes are sky rocketing.
Chenin Blanc –normally the cheapest wine grape is selling for Rs. 55 against hard cash, according to Yatin Patil, the newly elected President of the All India Wine Producers Association. With no possibility of getting price increase on the wines in the market, the producers are expected to see a pressure on their bottom line except producers like Yatin who makes a small quantity of around 8,000-10,000 cases of wine but from his own grapes. ‘The left-over grapes are usually sold but this year we have had no such possibility,’ he adds. |