Representative image Photocredit: Shaiith
The premium whiskey distillers of the country expect that the Duty concessions about Scottish input under the free trade agreement between India-UK will help improve their margins and accelerate growth.
A lower customs on bulk scotch, used by many Indian Made Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) companies for mixing, will lower costs and make premium spirits more affordable on the Indian market, the largest in the world for whiskey, they added.
According to the Trading Pact, announced earlier this month, the country will reduce the tasks on the British Whiskey and Gin from 150 percent to 75 percent, and further up to 40 percent by the tenth year.
Domestic players such as Radico Khaitan, Allied Blenders & Distillers (ABD) and John Distilleries said that the move consumers will give more choices and better access to high quality.
Radico Khaitan, the biggest importer of Scotch Whiskey for Blending and who owns the award-winning single Malt ‘Rampur’ and Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin, said that the free trade agreement has “considerable potential” for cost benefits due to the expected reduction of customs tasks.
“Radico is planning to import Scotch Malt to value £ 250 crore in the tax year 2025-2026, and this treaty is therefore essentially beneficial,” Radico Khaitan MD ABHISHEK said Khaitan PTI.
Shared similar views, Allied blenders and distillers (ABD), makers of Officer’s Choice Whiskey, said that it has opened new roads for collaboration, in addition to helping the super-premium for luxury portfolio more accessible.
“This agreement will also benefit the super-premium from ABD to luxury portfolio by making these products more accessible. We expect this to offer Indian consumers a larger choice and the opportunity to enjoy a wider range of high-quality spirits,” the company said.
According to data from the Scotch Whiskey Association, India was the largest market for Scotch per volume in 2024, with 192 million bottles exported. In value terms it is in fourth place with export with a value of 248 million British pounds.
Amrut Distilleries MD Rakshit N Jagdale, however, has expressed concern about the services, and said that the steep reduction in tasks could harm the domestic alcohol industry of the country.
The reduction in import duties on Scotch Whiskey from 150 percent to 75 percent in one step is “alarming” steep, he said.
“This step risks the discouraging future expansion projects within the Indian distillation sector projects that not only contribute to the production of GDP, but also generate a significant direct and indirect employment in the supply chain, from agriculture to retail,” he said it will probably be out in the import volumes and exports.
Although openness is vital for global trade, it should not be at the expense of long -term self -reliance, production growth and job creation, Jagdale added.
John Distilleries chairman Paul P John said that this free trade agreement may have an impact in the short term on Indian products, but he hopes that it will make a better company convenience possible for Indian products in the UK.
About the impact on the prices for Retail, John said: “At this stage it is premature to comment on specific price strategies. We keep an eye on the developments of the India-UK free trade agreement and will assess the implications as soon as the details have been completed”.
According to data from the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the sale of IMFL has grown by 14 percent to volume to 385 million cases in FY23, in which the premium products have grown more than £ 1,000 per 750 ml bottle from the sector average to 45 percent.
In FY23, whiskey sales volume of 243 million cases of 9 liters each was registered.
Moreover, some of their own brands of single malts, while Amrut, Paul John, Indri, Rampur and Gianchand even surpassed global brands in 2023.
Published on May 18, 2025
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