‘It’s a Special Purpose Vehicle which has been already registered as ‘Nashik Valley Wine Cluster Pvt Ltd’ and for which other modalities are being worked out with Mitcon Consultancy Services Ltd.,’ said Jagdish Holkar, Nashik-based president of All India Wine Producers Association, who is pursuing the paperwork to make it functional as soon as possible.
Clarifying the earlier media reports he explained that this is a government sponsored project and has nothing to do with the All India Wine Producers Association (AIWPA). Government has already formed clusters in the engineering, textile and many other segments and this will be modeled the same way.
The Rs. 250 million investments will be mostly subsidized from the state and central government whose shall will be Rs.200 million. The shareholders from the 35 existing wineries in Nashik will be a part of the organization, according to Holkar, including wineries like Sula.
The cluster will enable the member shareholders to use hi-tech machines under one roof to help them produce international quality wines. The shared resources should also lead to a decrease in the production costs which will bring down the market price too.
’The idea behind making clusters was to promote Indian wines in the country. Many small producers are unable to meet international standards today because of heavy initial costs to get good quality equipment,’ adds Holkar.
Replying to a query, Holkar said there will be a meeting in about 8 days when it would be decided who will run the Show as the CEO although it will be about 3 months before the report from Mitcon is available for action as the POA for the Nashik Cluster. Other wine regions like Sangli and Pune are expected to follow suit-perhaps they would be watching the success.
Holkar further clarified that the new NVWC Board will also have members from All India Wine Producers Association, Nashik Valley Association, Indian Grape Processing Board and NRC etc. But, he emphasized that only entrepreneurs will be allowed to join the Board.
A query from Sula elicited a response of surprise. Apparently Rajeev Samant, CEO of Sula is not yet aware of the project. It looks like it is at a concept stage and will need the involvement of stalwarts to seriously channel the funds and expertise in a focused direction-otherwise the project may fizzle out like most government projects where the subsidies get frittered away with no real benefits to those it was meant for, in the first place.
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