| The company acquired the wine-making arm of Australian Tandou earlier this year, and it has set its eyes on a winery in South Africa. |
| "We are going to make our presence felt in the five continents of Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and South America. We are also looking at wineries in Argentina and Chile for the purpose," said Indage Group Chairman, S G Chougule. However, he refused to give any details. |
| The company owns vineyards and wineries in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh, producing 12.5 million litres of wine every year. |
| However, with wine becoming a popular lifestyle drink among Indians, the company has set its eyes on constructing vineyards and wineries in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and either West Bengal or Assam. |
| With the difference in soil and climatic conditions in different states, the company is most likely to develop different varieties and flavours of wine. But Chougule declined to comment on a timeframe for these operations to get underway. |
| "The per capita wine consumption in India is a mere 10 ml as compared to 59 litres in France, 22 litres in Australia and 27 litres in a non-producing nation like the UK. The scope for the wine market in India is immense," Chougule said. |
| However, for per capita consumption to increase to even a litre would require at least 3.75 lakh acres of cultivated land. The area under cultivation for wine grapes is less than 10,000 acres, he said. |
| "With the Land Ceiling Act allowing individuals to own up to 52 acres only, this target might be difficult to reach. Especially, with the government trying to promote mother vines which cannot have other grape vines within a 100 sq kms, available land for cultivation may become a problem. However, with other states coming forth with wine policies, there is hope," Chougule feels. |
| The company is already exporting wine made from the Indian Baramati grape to countries abroad. It exports its products to 70 countries around the globe. |
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