Mayell and Fraser sets up its distillery in Sikkim

Gangtok, Nov 13: Mayell and Fraser in collaboration with Angus Dundee Distilleries, a Scotland-based company, has set up a distillery unit at Baghe Khola near here.

Inaugurating the unit, Chief Minister Pawan Chamling described the setting up of the unit as a milestone in the industrialisation of the state.

He said during the past 12 years of the rule of his government, the state had achieved tremendous progress and industrial units worth Rs 30,000 crore were set up in the state.

Mr Chamling asked the industrial units to respect the labour laws, give priority to the local people in the appointment and ensure an polution-free environment.

He said his government was trying for the infrastructural development of the state by lobbying with the Central government for establishing air and rail link and improving the road condition.

Mr Chamling asked the media to project the state impartially and not to take side.

He, however, warned the industrial units about the anti- development elements from outside the state. '' They join the industrial units as workers and work for its closure, '' he said and asked the industrial units to keep an eye on them.

The Mayell and Fraser had signed an agreement with the Angus Dundee to produce and market three of their products.

Angust Dundee, an independent company with over 50 years of experience in the production, bottling and distribution of fine scotch whiskies and other spirits owns two distilleries in Scotland and operates out of four locations in the United Kingdom namely Tomintul, Glencaram, Glasgow and London.

Mayell and Fraser Managing Director Guru I Ladakhi said the Scotland-based company would provide only technical assistance for the Rs five crore project which would produce 1500 cases per day initially but could be raised to 6000 cases if the demand increased. In the first year the product would be launched in West Bengal and all the North Eastern states, including Sikkim, and hoped to acquire three per cent of the total deluxe whisky segment and become the market leader in South Asia soon.

He said with a population of a billion people and a growing middle class of 300 million people, India is the largest whisky market in the world selling approximately 70 million cases in 2005-06.

The USA, the second highest selling market, sold only 45 million cases in 1998.

According to a projection by 2009, it will cross 100 million and by 2015, it will boom to 180 million cases.

The liquor industry in India, growing at over 10 per cent per year, was very promising for the newcomers. With aggresive marketing and the state excise regulations being more and more liberalised, the industry has a very healthy and promising future, he said.

UNI