Brewery takes fizz out of beer guzzlers’ joy in TG

Hyderabad: Guzzlers starved of chilled beer in Telangana as the famous brewery Kingfisher announced stoppage of the beer supply immediately. Other brewery companies also threatened to stop the supply of beer for the non-payment of dues and the increase of the profit margin.

The manufacturers of Kingfisher brand beer, United Breweries has decided to suspend supply of all brands of Kingfisher beer with immediate effect to the Telangana Beverages Corporation Ltd (TGBCL). The beer maker said in a statement that despite the continuous efforts over last two years, there was no increase of the base prices offered to its products. “This has resulted in escalating losses, making our operations in the State unviable”, a statement from the company said on Tuesday.

The Kingfisher beer brands account for nearly 60 to 70 per cent of the total beer sales in the State. The inordinate delay in payments from the TGBCL was also leading to mounting losses to the company, which contributes more than Rs 4,500 crore to the State exchequer every year.

The Brewers Association of India (BAI) has made multiple representations to the government regarding the industry-wide challenges, urging price increases to offset inflation. But the government did not accept the demand for a long time.

Telangana Wine Dealers’ Association president D Venkateshwar Rao appealed to the government to expeditiously settle the issue so that the beer supply was streamlined in the ensuing summer and meet the beer demand.