The Uttar Pradesh government has permitted the setting up of a new winery in the state with the annual production capacity of 54.446 litres in Muzaffarnagar.
To promote fruit wines in a big way, the state government has made provisions for the promotion of wine production units in the state’s Excise Policy 2021-22.
Though the UP government had announced the wine policy as part of the state excise policy in 2021-22, there was no unit producing wine in the state.
Additional Chief Secretary (Excise) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said the state government had approved the new wine producing unit in Muzaffarnagar district.
Bhoosreddy said the acreage under horticulture or fruit cultivation in UP was 4.76 lakh hectares and of the total fruits produced in the state, only 60 per cent was consumed. He said the rest of the 42.16 lakh MT would now be used for wine production.
He said wine production, besides enhancing the income of farmers and generating employment, would contribute to the state exchequer.
Bhoosreddy said there was huge potential for winery units in the state as UP ranks third in India and produces 26 per cent of the total fruits produced in the country. He said the annual fruit production in UP was 105.41 lakh MT.
He said 60 per cent of the fruits were consumed and the value of the remaining 40 per cent fruit stock was over Rs 4,200 crore and it would be utilised for winery.
He said different fruits were grown in different regions of UP in districts like Saharanpur, Bijnor, Bareilly, Pilibhit and districts in the Bundelkhand region.
The additional chief secretary said 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 had met the additional chief secretary recently regarding 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, lychee, 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
“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 farm income.
He said efforts were being made to identify districts where fruit cultivation was high and the produce was not used fully so that wineries could be established in such areas.
Bhoosreddy said the state would organise an investors’ meet in November that would invite the largest wineries in the country in addition to top investors, and states like Maharashtra and Goa which could invest in the state. The AIWPA will make a presentation at the meet to inform investors about the procedure of the establishment of a winery in UP.