Kingfisher beer off shelves in Telangana as beer maker United Breweries halts supply

Kingfisher beer will not be avaialble in Telangana now, as the beer maker United Breweries has suspended supply to the Telangana Beverages Corporation Ltd

Hyderabad: Kingfisher Beer lovers are in for a heart break in Telangana.

United Breweries, the manufacturers of Kingfisher brand beer has decided to suspend supply of all brands of Kingfisher beer with immediate effect to the Telangana Beverages Corporation Ltd (TGBCL) due to what it termed as ‘significant and ongoing operating losses”.

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The beer maker maintained that despite the continuous efforts over last two years, there was no increase of the base prices offered to its producs. “This has resulted in escalating losses, making our operations in the State unviable”, a statement from the company said on Tuesday.

United Breweries makes the popular brands of Kingfisher, Kingfisher strong, Kingfisher Ultra, Kingfisher UltraMax and some other beer brands which are most popular in Telangana. In fact, Kingfisher beer brands account for nearly 60 to 70 per cent of the total beer sales in the state, industry sources say.

What seemed t have queered the pitch is that the Telangana Government had increased beer prices to the consumers, but had not increased the base price paid to the manufacturers. Moreover, the inordinate delay in payments from the TGBCL was also leading to mounting losses to the company, which contributes more than Rs 4500 crore to the State exchequer every year.

“We have a fiduciary responsibility to all our stakeholders, and with each beer sold at a loss, it has become unsustainable for us to continue our operations. Additionally, the substantial overdue payments for the supplies made to TGBCL further complicate the situation”, the statement said.

The statement further said 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 unfortunately, there has been no resolution to date.”

Meanwhile, the Telangana Wine Dealers’ Assocation president D Venkateshwar Rao has urged the government to expeditiously settle the issue so that the beer supply was streamlined. He said the liquor sellers in the State lost business last summer also.