by Subhash Arora
After Pernod Ricard and Diageo, Vijay Mallya's United Business Group (UB), which bought Bouvet-Ladubay in August 2006, plans to plant 125 hectares of French grape varieties in Baramati near Pune that will used to make wine to be marketed worldwide..
alongside the "growing global acceptability" of Indian cuisine. At the same time, they plan long term contractual agreements with local farmers to plant an additional 400 hectares, in order to reach a capacity of five to six million bottles per year in five years.
"Considering that Indian cuisine today has wide representation internationally, there is a huge potential for exports”, says Abhay Kewadkar, chief wine maker of United Spirits Ltd (USL), an arm of UB. "The Indian restaurants in cities like London, Paris and New York are automatic launching pads.”
