RAISE A TOAST

New Delhi, Dec. 16: United Spirits Ltd will export wine to Europe and the US from March.

“These wines will be of international standard and will be exported to France, the UK and the US,” Abhay Kewadkar, business head (wines) and chief wine-maker of United Spirits, told The Telegraph.

The six labels for export are Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Zynfildel, Rose, Souvigno Blanc and Chenin Blanc. The packaging will be “ethnic” to attract customers to these made-in-India brands.

Kewadkar said the labels would be launched in India in January.

The Vijay Mallya-group company is betting big on its wine manufacturing facility coming up at Baramati near Pune.

The plant will use local grapes to manufacture the wine. The company expects the plant to produce 600,000 bottles in the first year, of which it hopes to export around 10 per cent. The company has entered into contract farming arrangements with farmers to cultivate 500 acres in and around Baramati.

United Spirits is also acquiring land for its own vineyards. “We will soon have our own 300-acre vineyard in Baramati,” Kewadkar added.

In the next couple of years, it plans to set up more vineyards in Nashik and Bangalore.

The company said it would add another Rs 200 crore to its revenues in the next four years by adding 300 foreign labels to its portfolio.

Of these, 40 to 50 labels will be launched in the first quarter of the next fiscal.

United Spirits posted a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 497.49 crore for 2006-2007 compared with Rs 42.02 crore in the previous fiscal, an increase of 1,083.93 per cent. Consolidated revenues were at Rs 2,711.94 core.

QIP issue

United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd’s qualified institutional placement issue (QIP) was oversubscribed by over 2.6 times.

The holding company of the Vijay Mallya group, which had launched the offer on December 4, raised Rs 600 crore through its maiden QIP offering.