When Ankur Sachdeva helped introduce Glenfiddich to the Indian market in the early 2000s, the single malt whisky category was barely known. He recalls presenting the brand to a senior food and beverage specialist at a major hotel group, explaining that Glenfiddich is a single malt scotch whisky. The response he received was: 'Only Scotch is sold in my hotels.'
For Sachdeva, this dialogue illustrated the state of the Indian market at that time. William Grant & Sons spent years educating consumers and the trade community, even organizing trips to Scotland for journalists, food and beverage specialists, and connoisseurs several times a year so they could understand this category.
Two decades later, Sachdeva notes that India has progressed from complete unfamiliarity with single malts to having the most exotic malts in bars. He observed this shift during his 25-year career working at William Grant & Sons, Radico Khaitan, and Allied Blenders and Distillers. Today, while creating Uppal Brewers & Distillers (UBD), the company behind Indian whisky brands Soorahi and Madhvan, he believes another major shift is underway.
The Indian consumer has become more experimental, moving faster towards the premium segment, and increasingly willing to consider domestic alcoholic beverages. Globally, beer is the dominant alcohol category, but India looks completely different.
According to Sachdeva, 'unlike that, in India the giant is hard liquor. In terms of value, it accounts for about three-quarters of the entire market,' he stated on the Prime Venture Partners Podcast. He estimates the Indian alcoholic beverage industry at approximately 5 lakh crore rupees, noting significant economic linkages in agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, packaging, hospitality, distribution, and retail. Furthermore, he believes the ecosystem provides around 10 million direct and indirect jobs.
Whisky constitutes 60–65% of Indian spirits, and whisky, brandy, and rum together account for over 90%. The geography of consumption is also intuitively complex. According to Sachdeva, South India consumes more than North, West, and East combined. Only Karnataka accounts for about 60 million cases in a market of approximately 420 million cases.
Sachdeva's experience with Glenfiddich demonstrates an early example of how new alcohol categories are forming in India. A seemingly unrelated change helped: when the duty-free allowance for arriving passengers increased from one liter to two liters, Sachdeva noticed a change in purchasing behavior. The first bottle usually remained a familiar blended scotch like Chivas Regal or Johnnie Walker Black, while the second became a purchase for experimentation, increasingly being single malt whisky.
Over time, knowledge of single malt whisky itself became a status symbol. 'It was a new social currency,' says Sachdeva. Being able to mention the name of an unknown distillery or bring back an unusual bottle signaled travel, knowledge, and sophistication.
A broader conclusion applies to the current situation. New categories do not necessarily replace old consumption habits overnight; they can emerge parallel to established choices as consumers gain confidence in experimenting. This experimentation is visible in other categories too. Sachdeva notes that vodka makes up less than 4% of Indian spirits compared to over 15% globally, but it is growing much faster than the overall IMFL market.
India also behaves unusually regarding vodka. While clear vodka dominates internationally, Sachdeva claims that about 60% of vodka sold in India is flavored.
Sachdeva believes that one of the most significant changes is the weakening of rigid brand loyalty. In his view, the traditional premium whisky consumer was often an older man sticking to the same brand. The younger generation is more inclined to experiment, increasingly includes women, and uses products as a form of self-expression. 'Such brand loyalty, in my opinion, no longer exists.'
This also changes the meaning of premiumization. For Sachdeva, premiumization is not just increasing the product price from 1000 rupees to 1100 rupees. It is the consumer transitioning from a product worth 600 or 800 rupees to one costing 1000 rupees, and then striving for 2000 rupees. 'The same consumer on life's journey wants better, strives for better.'
Better can mean the spirit itself, as well as the packaging, presentation, storytelling, and opening. This shift opens opportunities for Indian brands. Sachdeva estimates that nearly 80–90% of the industry, which numbers about 420 million cases, is still below the 800 rupee mark. 'Imagine, even if a tiny percentage reaches or moves to a higher price bracket, imagine what that will unlock. It is huge.'
However, opportunity does not mean an easy startup. 'If you think you need one, plan for three,' advises Sachdeva. One reason is working capital. Before alcohol hits the market, companies may already have paid excise duty. If the cost to the distillery is 100 rupees, Sachdeva says an additional 100 rupees or more in funding may be required before generating sales revenue.
UBD itself illustrates the capital requirements: Sachdeva notes that the Uppal family initially invested about 100 crore rupees in the business, providing the company with patient capital. 'Usually, for people, the first year is dedicated to fundraising, whereas for us, it was dedicated to building brands,' he says. This patience allowed the company to test before scaling up. During the first two months of launching Soorahi in Delhi, Sachdeva personally organized a product tasting for over 1100 people at the Pragati Maidan beverage exhibition. 'That reaction told me we were on the right track.'
After this, UBD expanded from Delhi to Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Goa, Daman, and Karnataka. Soorahi also taught UBD an important lesson about portfolio economics. In Delhi, Soorahi sells for about 1700 rupees, competing in a relatively premium segment. By the eighteenth month, according to Sachdeva, the brand achieved about 5% market share in that segment. However, the higher the price point, the smaller the accessible market becomes.
This prompted UBD to launch Madhvan, whose potential market, according to Sachdeva, is four to five times larger than Soorahi's. There was another factor. Established competitors often approach distributors with four, five, or even seven brands, allowing them to spread sales and distribution costs across the entire portfolio. 'They can spread their overheads across a range of brands,' he explains. Thus, the second product for UBD was not just launching another brand; it could change the very economics of distribution.
Perhaps the trickiest part of the business only manifests after product creation. Alcohol is regulated separately in each state. Excise rules, label registration, pricing, wholesale structures, retail systems, and sales channels can differ across borders. 'Every state is different, and I think that in most cases, that is the advantage of this industry,' says Sachdeva. Existing players accumulate years of experience dealing with the peculiarities of each state. The private market may behave differently from the state-controlled market, and hybrid systems create another set of operational challenges.
Sachdeva calls the necessary ability to navigate this 'operational agility.' 'Your next state is always easier than the previous one because the blueprint is already established.'
Even the decision to move production from Punjab to Goa was primarily driven by regulation. Sachdeva asserts that regulatory flexibility accounted for about 80% of the decision, followed by the perception of Goa as a tourist destination and its growing ecosystem of skilled personnel, distillers, and alcohol companies. Despite all the complexity, Sachdeva calls it 'perhaps the best time in the last 25 years' to explore premium Indian spirits. He sees untapped space in whisky, rum, gin, and vodka as consumers move to premium and become more confident in buying Indian brands.
But his final advice to founders is intentionally less grandiose. 'Don't fall too deeply in love with your idea, and then don't let ego get in the way.' In a business where regulation, capital, consumer preferences, and distribution can challenge the initial plan, founders must know when something isn't working. Mistakes cost money, but refusing to admit them can cost something harder to recover—'more than money, you lose years.'
