Uttar Pradesh looks to promote wine production, set up dozen units

To promote fruit wines in a big way, the government of Uttar Pradesh has made provisions for the promotion of wine production units in the state’s Excise Policy 2021-22, top officials said. Although UP has a wine policy, the state does not have a single wine unit.

Additional chief secretary excise Sanjay R. Bhoosreddy told FE that at least a dozen wine-making units should come up soon in the major fruit producing regions of the state. The All-India Wine Producers Association (AIWPA) led by Jagdish Holkar met the additional chief secretary last week with regard to taxation issues faced by wineries across the country and offered to help the state in setting up wine units.

“Several sub-tropical fruits like mango, jamun, jackfruit, guava, grapes, litchi, amla and papaya are grown in UP and the huge quantities produced are not even fully utilised. A lot of the produce gets wasted due to lack of proper storage facilities for fruits,” Bhoosreddy said after a meeting held with several industry representatives to apprise them of the incentives being offered by the state to set up wine units.

“If wineries are set up here, then the industry will get a boost through incentives, farmers will get the right price for their produce and the state will earn revenue through sale of wine. More importantly, most of the fruits will also be used,” he said.

As per the new excise policy, wine made from fruits produced in the state has been kept free from consideration fee and additional consideration fee for the next five years. This should encourage units to come up in the state, he added. Promotion of wineries is part of the government’s efforts to boost the farm income.

Excise commissioner Senthil Pandiyan C said efforts are being made to identify districts where fruit cultivation is high, and the produce is not used fully so that wineries can be established in such areas.

Anil Sawhney, who owns the Godson Organic Farm at Bareilly, has offered to set up the first pilot winery in the state. The idea is to set up a demo model which can be seen by other farmers and replicated in their villages to promote agro-tourism.

Bhoosreddy said the state shall organise an investor meet in November that would invite the largest wineries in the country in addition to top investors, and states like Maharashtra and Goa which can invest in the state.

AIWPA will make a presentation at the meet to inform investors about the procedure of the establishment of a winery.