Andhra Pradesh may continue to be the largest market in terms of beer consumption today, but it is the only state where the market has declined in the recent past. | |
| This, the All India Brewers' Association (AIBA) believes, is due to the high proportion of tax in the state as compared to the national average. |
| |
| Addressing mediapersons, Sundeep Kumar, director, AIBA, said, "While the tax component is 50 per cent of the total price of beer in Andhra Pradesh, the national average is 42 per cent. We believe that 50 per cent of beer's price should be the manufacturing cost, 35 per cent should be the tax component and 15 per cent should be the trade margins." |
| |
| The consumption of beer in the state is 18 million cases per annum, with the national figure being around 108 million cases. |
| |
| "Andhra Pradesh is still the largest market today but has declined by one per cent. In fact, it is the only state in the country where the beer market has declined. Tamil Nadu, at around 15 million cases, is fast catching up," Kumar said. |
| |
| Calling for delinking beer with spirits, Kumar said that there was a need to bring tax rates in India on par with the global average. |
| |
| "If this can be done, the average price of beer will come down from Rs 53.66 to Rs 42," he added. The Andhra Pradesh government had been approached in this regard, Kumar said. |
| |
|
| |
