India’s alcoholic beverages sector is seeing a growing crop of home-grown brands seeking to carve out a larger share of the market, even as global liquor majors continue to dominate key segments. From craft beer and premium gin to vodka and rum, Indian brands are expanding their presence in an alcobev industry estimated to be worth $50-60 billion.
What started as a hobby is turning into a multi-crore business for Goa-based Latambarcem Brewers, maker of Borecha and Maka Di. Co-founder Ishan Varshnei said he identified a gap in India’s beer market when he returned from the US about a decade ago and decided to build a business focused on manufacturing, product development and innovation.
“What I noticed was that everyone was focusing on building brands, but hardly anyone was investing in the backend — product development, manufacturing, R&D and innovation. Craft brewing is fundamentally about creating unique products, not simply spending money on marketing,” Varshnei said.
Maka Di was launched in 2020, and the company is now targeting revenue of Rs 500 crore over the next five years as it expands its manufacturing capacity. It also plans to enter the liquor segment and establish facilities in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
For FY27, Borecha and Maka Di are targeting revenue of Rs 50 crore, up from Rs 20 crore in FY26. Alcoholic beverages currently account for 65% of the company’s business, while the remaining 35% comes from non-alcoholic products.
Varshnei is not alone in betting on the growth of India’s alcohol market, which is expanding at an estimated 6-8% annually. According to IWSR, volumes are expected to grow at a CAGR of around 3% between 2024 and 2034.
A defining trend in the sector is premiumisation, with consumers increasingly moving from economy and standard labels towards craft gins, single malts and other premium and imported spirits. This has encouraged a growing number of Indian brands, including Spaceman Spirits Lab, Maya Pistola Agavepura, ZigZag Vodka, Rockford Reserve and Chambal Gin, to target the premium segment.
The alcobev sector has also attracted a growing number of venture capital and private equity-backed startups. These include Ochre Spirits in Goa, which raised a seed round led by Ah!Ventures; Rock Paper Rum; Six Brothers, which focuses on mahua-based spirits; and Sur, which makes cashew feni.
According to Tracxn, India has more than 330 alcobev startups, of which 83 have received funding. Around 15 new companies have been launched annually over the past decade, highlighting the growing entrepreneurial interest in the sector.
Parvez Bapuna, COO of Bapuna Alcobrew, which makes Daku Rum and Chambal Gin, said rising incomes and economic growth are driving consumers towards premium products.
“Both Indian and foreign brands are flourishing in the country, given the size of the market and the ample room for growth,” he said.
Premium products currently account for a small share of Bapuna Group’s business, but the company wants to significantly increase their contribution. After entering the gin and rum segments, Bapuna Alcobrew plans to expand into beer, whisky and vodka in the coming months.
“Vodka and whisky will be in the premium category, while beer will be a mass-market brand. We are targeting sales of half a million beer cases by next summer,” Parvez said, adding that scaling up manufacturing capacity is not a major challenge for the company.
However, scaling up remains a key hurdle for smaller domestic brands, according to Vinod Giri, Director General of the Brewers Association of India.
“Emerging players are mainly operating in niche segments such as gin, vodka and single malts, where volumes are relatively small. The large players continue to dominate the high-volume whisky and beer markets,” Giri said.
He pointed to the concentration of the industry, with Pernod Ricard and Diageo together controlling around half of the spirits market. In beer, United Breweries, majority-owned by Dutch brewer Heineken, along with Carlsberg and AB InBev, account for nearly 85% of the market.
“Domestic brands have achieved some success in select markets such as Delhi. Their future growth will depend on their ability to scale up, secure adequate working capital and navigate the differing policies across states,” Giri said.
India’s alcoholic beverages market comprises around 1.1 billion cases, with beer and Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) accounting for roughly 400 million cases each, according to JM Financial.
The brokerage said India’s low per-capita alcohol consumption, favourable demographics and accelerating premiumisation make it an attractive market for global liquor companies. By 2030, around 100 million Indians are expected to reach the legal drinking age, accounting for about a quarter of the projected global increase in alcohol consumers.
India has consequently emerged as a key market for global players — the second-largest market for Pernod Ricard, among the top three for Diageo and the fourth-largest for Budweiser — while also featuring prominently in Carlsberg’s growth strategy.