THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The opening scene of award-winning movie Thinkalazhcha Nischayam shows two men waiting in a bus shelter at night with a bottle of liquor. When the police officer who was on patrol asks which the brand was, one of them says ‘JD’. “Oh, Who has come from Gulf here?” asks the officer who assumed the brand was Jack Daniels premium whisky brought by some expatriate. Pat came the answer: “It’s Jawan Deluxe, Sir”.
The native rum is one of the most sold liquor brands in the state. Cashing in on the popularity of Jawan Deluxe XXX Rum, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation has mooted an increase in its production. Jawan rum is produced at the Tiruvalla-based Travancore Sugars and Chemicals Limited (TSCL) under the Bevco. The corporation sells an average 1.50 lakh cases of the rum per year which is much lower than the demand. At present, the brand is priced at Rs 600 a litre though original cost of production will be only around one-tenth of that.
“We have submitted proposals to the government to increase the production of Jawan rum and to start IMFL production at the Malabar Distilleries in Palakkad. Further course of action will be based on the government’s direction,” Bevco Chairman and Managing Director S Syamsundar said.
At present, the TSCL has four production lines where 7,500 cases are made a day. Bevco’s proposal is to start six more lines which would help in the production of an additional 10,000 cases a day. Six blending tanks will also have to be set up. The expansion plan will cost about Rs 2 crore and hiring of about 170 personnel. Bevco plans to replace the plastic bottle with glass bottle for Jawan rum.
Jawan credited with revival of Travancore Sugar mills
The Jawan brand that was introduced in the market in 2008 has been credited with the revival of TSCL, which has been reeling under huge loss. The TSCL was launched in 1948 and it originally produced spirit from sugarcane grown on the shores of Pampa river. As local production of sugarcane came down, it was brought from other states.
There was a bid to bottle arrack in between, but that was stopped following the arrack ban by A K Antony government in 1996. The 2006 government led by V S Achuthanandan entrusted Bevco to revive TSCL, which resulted in the birth of Jawan that became hugely popular among dailywage workers because of the lower price and quicker kick.
Bevco will be able to produce more brands like Jawan if the government approves the proposal to start production at Malabar Distilleries. It was formed in 2009 after Bevco took over a defunct sugar factory at Menonpara in Palakkad. In 2018, the government gave sanction to a proposal by Bevco to start an IMFL unit at Malabar distilleries.
But it was frozen soon after. Brandy and rum constitute a lion’s share of Bevco’s revenue. During the previous fiscal, 42% of the revenue was from the sale of Indian-made brandy and 30% from Indianmade rum. Beer constituted 19%. The total turnover was Rs 1,493 crore.