Industry: Brewing Trouble

India’s nascent microbrewery industry is facing the double whammy of lockdown blues and high taxation

- RUKMINI RAO

Craft beer market in 2014

0.15 million litres

Craft beer market in 2019

43 million litres (microbreweries are a small part of this)

Beer market in 2018

2.4 billion litres

Expected size by 2023

3 billion litres

250-275 Number of microbreweries in India

$23.5 billion

Expected size of the Indian beer market in 2024

for a lot of people visiting Bengaluru for leisure, the job is pretty cut out: Finding out the most happening brewpub in town for a taste of house specials. And if the brews aren’t interesting enough, hit the next one which, going by the sheer numbers in the city, cannot be far away. Even for a nascent segment such as brewpubs – pubs which have in-house microdistilleries that brew fresh beer and serve it in the premises – you know how well the city has taken to it when you see a handful of them even in an area like Jayanagar, considered an old and conservative part of the city.