Carlsberg team taking shape, Raman is CEO

BANGALORE: Beer giant Carlsberg’s top brass in India is taking shape with the induction of former ITC and Heinz honcho Dasrath Raman as CEO. The Delhi-headquartered South Asia Breweries, a registered entity of Carlsberg, has also roped in a senior Seagram executive Jagbir Sidhu as its national sales director, sources said.

Mr Raman comes in with experience of working with ITC, RPG Group’s retail business and Heinz. Mr Raman confirmed his move. Mr Sidhu, who has been with Seagram for six years, has been spearheading sales in the southern markets.

The domestic alcohol sector is beginning to witness a people churn with global brewers like Carlsberg, Anheuser-Busch (A-B) and Asia-Pacific Breweries (APB) foraying into the country. A-B is expected to announce its team in India, while APB, in which Heineken is a shareholder, has roped in former UB official Ravi kaza as COO.

Denmark’s Carlsberg has already unveiled its India foray with a greenfield brewery at Alwar in Rajasthan. This will be a JV between Carlsberg and its Sri Lankan ally, Lion Group.

Further, Carlsberg through its Nepal partner Khetan Group is reportedly close to acquiring Himneel brewery in Himachal Pradesh. These two plants will give Carlsberg critical production capacity in the fast growing north Indian markets.

The domestic beer consumption is vaulting at 30% on the back of general economic buoyancy and trade and tax reforms in States like Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan in recent times.

India’s growing beer market with per capita consumption of around 1 litre is still small, but is touted as one of the last potentially big markets prompting the big global brewers to take a plunge notwithstanding the daunting regulatory hurdles.

boby.kurian@timesgroup.com