India – no one ever said it was going to be easy for outsiders. A developing,
fragmented market, rife with bootlegging, smuggling and corruption, populated
by uneducated drinkers for whom price is often the be all and end all.
Multinationals’ fight to the finish over Indian import tax
Bootlegging, smuggling and corruption are rife in the Indian drinks industry but more crippling for foreign exporters is the country's tax regime. At present, imported spirits are taxed at 222% and wines at 104% but the recent WTO ruling means these could finally begin to fall. Chris Brook-Carter reports