'Goa sells maximum beer in India'

Goa sells maximum beer in India and urban Indians are getting hooked onto super premium beers, Rohit Jain, manufacturer of Kaltenberg, the country's first indigenously manufactured super premium beer, claimed Wednesday.

Jain, chairman of the Meghalaya-based CMJ Breweries, was in Goa Wednesday to launch Kaltenberg beer, which is manufactured in the north-eastern state in association with Bavaria-based beer experts Konig Ludwig International.

"Goa is the Mecca of beer in India. It is the fastest growing market and has always been that way," Jain said.

He also said the super premium beer segment was opening up in India with urban beer lovers was just about beginning to appreciate such beers.

"The market is just building up," Jain said, adding that India consumed about five lakh cases of super premium beer annually, all imported.

"There is no Indian company manufacturing super premium beer. Kaltenberg is the first super premium beer to be made in India. But all the ingredients are imported from Germany," Jain said.

The beer has already been launched in Mumbai, West Bengal and other parts of eastern India.