| |
Pakistan eyes the India beer
market
NEW DELHI - Diplomatic
ties between India and Pakistan are improving slowly,
but what would Pakistan like to export to India if
relations between them normalize? Murree beer, say some.
Murree beer is produced in Rawalpindi and is a relic of
the British Raj. The brewery was established in 1861 and
few Indians, and not many Pakistanis, have tasted the
beer because the law in Pakistan allows only the
country's non-Muslim minority to buy alcohol.
The prospect of exporting beer to India was
raised by a member of a Pakistani delegation that
visited India in May. M P Bhandara, a member of the
delegation of legislators and managing director of
Murree Brewery Company Ltd, said that he would like to
export significant quantities of Murree beer to India,
as it is a vast market.
It is not clear whether
Pakistan has ever exported beer to India, although India
does import beer from several countries, and some of the
large international beer companies have set up shop.
Hopes of exporting Murree beer must gladden the heart of
Bhandara, a non-Muslim Parsee. He said that consumption
in Pakistan is very low and his company makes as much
beer in Pakistan in one year as an average-sized brewery
in Germany makes in three days.
The Murree
Brewery, a listed company, makes four different brands
of beer, using Australian barley. But production has
dropped to 160,000 cases a year, from 350,000 cases a
decade ago. The Indian market for beer is estimated at
nearly 70 million cases a year and it is rising by 15-20
percent annually. United Brewery, which makes Kingfisher
beer, is the market leader with nearly 30 million cases
a year. Shaw Wallace and Company is next with 25 million
cases.
"Murree is a very well-known brewery and
there will be many takers for its beer in India, at
least for the sake of nostalgia," said Kapil Channa,
president of corporate affairs at Shaw Wallace. He said
people who moved to India after partition of the
subcontinent in 1947 would certainly like to revive old
memories.
Although there are no records to
suggest that Murree beer has ever been imported into
post-partition India, Indian alcoholic beverages are
popular in Pakistan. There are no official exports of
alcoholic beverages to Pakistan and consignments are
smuggled from India to Pakistan through the Sind border.
Diplomatic ties between India and Pakistan have
been improving steadily with Pakistan recently removing
a ban on the import of 78 items from India. The two
countries have also named new ambassadors to each
other's capitals. India and Pakistan have official
annual trade of around US$200 million, but exports
through third countries, mainly Dubai and Singapore,
total nearly $1 billion. Officials believe trade could
rise to nearly $3-4 billion if the two countries start
trading with each other directly.
Relations
between the two began improving a few weeks ago and
India has suggested the exchange of official and trade
delegations to prepare the ground for talks, including
talks on Kashmir, the most contentious issue between.
India plans to send at least two full trade
delegations to Pakistan, and Islamabad sent a 40-strong
delegation to India in late June. An increase in trade
would also play a role in promoting friendly ties, said
senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour of Pakistan, who is
co-president of the India-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
(Asia Pulse)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
