India's wine industry is set to be on a high soon.
In an effort to give a fillip to the ever-growing wine sector, the Central government has proposed to form a National Grape and Wine Board (NGWB) on the lines of other commodity boards like the Tea Board.
As part of this move, the ministry of food processing industry has prepared a detailed project profile for the proposed board.
The report has been accepted by the ministry of agriculture and it has been sent to the Planning Commission for its nod.
According to officials, the board will set up its headquarters in Maharashtra but the ministry has not decided on whether it should be in Pune or Nashik. Maharashtra is the largest grape growing region in the country.
Officials ponted out that the Pune-based management consultancy organisation Mitcon Consultants have been given the task of preparing a detailed project report for setting up the board.
Maharashtra has taken major strides in grape and wine production in the past five years. The area under grape cultivation in Maharashtra is about 32,000 hectares and is continuously growing.
The world wine production is over 30 billion litres, but India contributes very little towards this. The wines made in the country, however, are increasingly getting acceptance globally and domestic consumption is also growing. The local wine industry is growing at 25-30 per cent and the consumption has gone up to 2 million litres.
The proposed board's main objective will be to give a competitive edge to the grape and wine industry at international level.
The Board will help define policy, develop wine standards, monitor the regulatory norms and compliances, and most importantly, extend marketing support for wine makers in the international markets.
The most important task before the board would be to develop wine standards and certify different brands for their veracity.
According to international norms, a wine, which is labeled after a particular grape variety must contain at least 95 per cent of the juice obtained from that variety.