Hill Zill Winery, founded in Bordi by Priyanka Save and her husband Nagesh Pai about a decade ago after they finished college in the US, has been a leading producer of fruit wines and a source of inspiration for many new entrepreneurs making fruit wines and meads (wine made by fermentation of honey) in the Northeast, UP, Andhra, Kerala, and Himachal Pradesh where they has already set up a unit in partnership, and Meghalaya where they are Fruit Wine Brand Ambassador & Technical Advisor for the state.

They shut shop on 1st March 2024 a couple of days after Maharashtra announced policy revival for grape wine producers only, not only paying the producers the backlog of VAT reimbursement of 3 years but also further continuing the reimbursement scheme of VAT for another 5 years. This spelt death knell for non-grape (fruit wine & mead) Industry which cannot compete with the unfair advantage of 80% VAT refund given to their counterparts in grape wine industry. This scheme was initiated in 2009 – ostensibly to pass on the benefit to the consumers but the industry pleaded then with the government that since they were losing money, this refund would help them put the money back in operations for the purpose of promotion.

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No such benefit was given to the fruit wine or mead industry which was relatively new and had been paying full excise duty of 100% of the manufacturing cost till 2019. With due representation, the excise duty was reduced to Re.1 per liter while the grape wine had been not paying any excise duties for sale within Maharashtra. But lightning struck them when the excise duties were uniformly added at Rs. 10/Liter- both on grape wine and now also on fruit wine in 2020.

’This makes the production totally unviable because essentially we have to operate within the same market’, says Priyanka who had to lay off the whole staff of 40 persons.’ The promotion schemes given to retailers were not possible for us as we now have to pay from our pocket on every bottle we sell,’ she adds.

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Talking this morning to a TV Channel Awaaz Entrepreneur owned by CNBC where Priyanka Save and Nitin Vishwas, co-founder of Moonshine Meads were invited, this closure emphasises the severe impact of government policies on the non-grape wine industry, including fruit wines and honey meads.

Priyanka Save, the exasperated Co-founder of Hill Zill Wines says, “After years of hard work, it is devastating to see businesses collapse due to policies that favour only the grape wine industry while completely ignoring the potential and contribution of fruit wines and honey meads. We have no choice but to explore opportunities in states like Karnataka that offer a level field for wines from all fruits including grapes that support innovation and diversity in wine production.”

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Why not approach through your industry Association, I ask. ‘We approached the government through All India Wine Producers Association (AIWPA), urging the Maharashtra government to form policies that are equally supportive of all wine industry segments. But with most of the producers being grape wine producers from Nashik, I am afraid the efforts could not be fruitful,’ she opines.

Reportedly, a PIL has also been also filed to this effect but even the favourable decision may not get the winery and the jobs back to those who have been fired. But Priyanka has been in a great demand as a consultant as well as a promoter nationally. She has decided for now to support the fruit wine producers in other parts of India and promote their wine production with the expertise she has developed over the years with her husband Nagesh.

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In the long run, it will be the State of Maharashtra that would be the loser, and thousands of farm workers that would have been possibly absorbed by its expanding fruit wine industry. Priyanka claims that in the 2019-2024 period, there has been a growth of 300% of this industry, much more than the grape wine industry, both working under similar situations.

Interaction on TV with Awaaz Entrepreneur on YouTube-Courtesy CNBC

Subhash Arora