SAA 25-THINKPAD 1: What Will Shape the Next Decade of Alcobev?

India’s alcoholic beverage industry is entering its most transformative decade. At the 12th Spiritz Conclave, an exceptional panel of leaders and thinkers gathered to debate and spar over the dynamics that promise to shape the sector. The ThinkPad session on ‘India Rocks: What Will Shape the Next Decade of Alcobev?’ reflected that India’s alcoholic beverage industry is standing at a rare convergence of opportunity, innovation and identity.

The conversation revealed that the coming decade will not only be defined by demographic expansion and income growth, but by how brands respond to changing mindsets, digital-first discovery, and the blurring lines between local and global tastes. From craft to consciousness, from provenance to premiumisation, the session underscored that the winners of the future will be those who pair India’s deep cultural roots with bold storytelling, authenticity, and an unrelenting focus on quality. 

By VIBHOOTI Bhatnagar

The session moderated by Anchal Kaushal, Vice President of Customer Marketing at Diageo India, brought together a cross-section of perspectives and real-world insights from data to lived experiences. The panellists, Sanjeev Banga, President, International Business at Radico Khaitan Ltd.; Amulya Pandit, Senior Consultant, Euromonitor International; Ayaesha Gooptu, Country Head – India, Fino Tequila; Hemang Chandat, Chief Commercial Officer, Monika Alcobev Ltd.; and Nima Chandra, Head of Digital Marketing, Allied Blenders & Distillers Ltd., reflected on varied issues including the market-scale trends and the practical choices brands must make to win the next decade.

India stands at a remarkable demographic juncture. As Anchal Kaushal highlighted, “In the next five years, we’ll have 100 million people in the LDA (legal drinking age). It’s going to become the third largest alcobev country by value.” This upward trajectory isn’t wishful thinking. Amulya Pandit laid out the macroeconomic case. India’s GDP has surpassed Japan’s at USD 3.9 trillion and is projected to become the third-largest economy by 2029. The CAGR of 6.6 percent promises a robust consumption story.

Against a backdrop of global slowdown with alcohol consumption worldwide growing at only 0.6 percent, India is outpacing the trend. Tequila is the fastest-growing category, while Indian single malts are rewriting global hierarchies. “Our median age is just 29.6 years. That means a significant number of people will enter the legal drinking age over the next five years,” many entering urban centres shaped by migration, aspiration and connectivity, noted Amulya. Gen Z and Millennials are the most influential cohorts, driving much of the consumption and category experimentation.

Amulya’s data also flags structural realities. According to National Family Health Survey, “the prevalence for male drinkers is around 20 percent; for females, it’s just one percent,” he stated, underlying a stark gender split. Yet, as more women join the workforce, this number is expected to rise.

The income pyramid, too, is transforming. While lower-income bands (below USD 2,500) are shrinking, middle and upper-middle classes, those earning USD 10,000 and above, will represent over 100 million individuals, more than the populations of Germany or the UK. These cohorts will drive premiumisation.

Even as consumption increases, the path to the drink has diversified. “Consumer segment is no more defined by age, it is today basically a mindset,” Nima stated. In practice that means experimentation replaces a linear ladder of drinking. The old lifecycle, RTD to rum to whisky to topshelf imports, is giving way to an open, occasion-led, quality-driven journey. “Drinkers are becoming very conscious. It’s more an occasion out, then a lifecycle out now where alcohol is concerned.”

Rise of Indian Spirits

If there is one unifying theme for premium alcobev in India, it is that the narrative matters as much as the liquid. India’s single malts, for example, have revolutionised the very idea of luxury spirits, both at home and abroad. Emphasising this paradigm shift, Sanjeev Banga, said, “Indian single malts are now outpacing the consumption compared to other single malts.”

Rampur Distillery, along with peers like Amrut and Paul John, has pushed Indian malts into more than 100 countries. “For our luxury portfolio, US is the biggest market despite the tariffs,” he noted, crediting India’s 35 million strong diaspora and the rise of fine Indian dining abroad. “They are all stocking Indian single malts, gins and Indian rums because they go fantastically well with Indian food.”

Sanjeev urged the industry to “take India to the world”, arguing that Indian producers should charge the premium that provenance and craft deserve. “There’s so much India has to offer in terms of provenance and terroir.”

Indian single malts have already won awards and shelf space internationally. That external validation has in turn lubricated domestic acceptance, outselling Scotch single malts in India, a milestone confirmed by IWSR data.

Tequila’s renaissance, no longer only shots but a category of cocktails, sipping styles and occasion-led consumption, shows how a well told origin story and category education can reinvent expectations. Hemang Chandat agreed. “Every time you see a bar menu in the gin category, there are always one or two Indian gins. Consumers are asking for them.”

Crucially, exports are changing the calculus too. Indian blended whiskies and expanding single malts are finding new markets; travel retail and the diaspora are powerful accelerants.

Gaining a place on the international table, however, is just the beginning. “Brand building does not come overnight,” Sanjeev cautioned, urging the industry to “first focus on the quality, packaging, [and then] pricing. Let’s not undersell India. Let’s charge the premium Scotch has charged for years.”

Evolving Palates, Emerging Categories

Long a brown-spirits bastion, India is experiencing the dawn of a white spirits surge. Tequila, in particular, is rewriting party, bar and gifting rituals. On-ground, Hemang observed that party orders that once began and ended with single malts now often “start from tequila.” Whether it’s a Diwali party or a night out at one of India’s top cocktail bars, tequila has transformed from a once occasional shot to a drink of choice for both social and celebratory occasions. Importantly, the depth of consumer engagement is evolving; partygoers now specify Reposado, Añejo or Silver for mixing, not just any tequila.

Tequila is still made in Mexico, but storytelling is what brings it alive for Indian consumers,” informed Nima. “Today, consumers don’t just want a bottle or a liquid; they want an experience.”

On other categories, the panel read the map as mixed but optimistic. Beer remains under-penetrated in India compared with global averages, gin’s momentum has softened, hard seltzer has struggled to scale locally because “brands were not able to cater it to the taste of the local consumers. The subcategory did not find a lot of takers,” stated Amulya. Meanwhile, RTDs have exploded off a low base and certain brands have found real staying power. He reminded the audience that India’s legal sales numbers understate a much larger cultural breadth.

According to Sanjeev, regional Indian fermented spirits and forgotten recipes like feni, mahua and others present a revival opportunity. “Certain rajwadas had recipes that are long forgotten. It’s time to revive them, showcase them and share them with the world because people are willing to experience. It’s a great opportunity for our industry as well,” he opined.

Digital as New Front Door

“The bottle is offline but the consumer is online,” reflected Ayaesha Gooptu, crisply capturing a core tension in the Indian alcobev ecosystem. Product sales may still be regulated and channelled traditionally, but every brand’s first contact with its consumer is increasingly becoming digital. Quick-commerce, social media and party platforms “feed into innovation calendars” and portfolio decisions.

Hemang echoed this reality from the trade front. He described shoppers who screenshot social media posts and take them to their local retailer to check availability. He added that ontrade activations now rely on social validation. “People are tagging brands, sharing cocktails and checking facts in real time. The trade is still trying to catch up in terms of digital, but consumers are really quick,” he added.

Digital, therefore, is the “zero moment of truth for alcobev,” states Ayaesha. It shapes decision, frames expectation and amplifies experience. For brands that means a seamless omnichannel story; the shelf display, the bartender’s pour and the Instagram post, all need to tell the same story. It also raises the bar on transparency. Today’s drinkers will Google provenance, production notes and reviews before committing. “So, authenticity becomes very important; how you build your brand, tell a story about where your product comes from and how you bring global and Indian cultures together,” opined Nima.

Moderation & Mindfulness

Talking about the newer consumer, the conversation at the ThinkPad turned to the trending topic of moderation and how it has evolved.

Noting a cultural twist, Anchal remarked, “Moderation isn’t only about health anymore.” Visibility, social norms and self-presentation now shape when and how people choose to drink. “People are so seen today; they don’t want to be viral for the wrong reasons,” she added.

The pandemic accelerated a shift toward drinking more deliberately. In Sanjeev’s words, “Post-Covid, consumers all around the world are drinking less and drinking better. Covid taught them to do their own cocktails. They have become more experimental. So, people are not drinking to get drunk; they are trying to celebrate a moment.” That mindset has driven occasionled consumption, smaller pours and a greater focus on quality over quantity.

At the same time, the trend is demographic-specific. As both Amulya and Nima observed, “While Gen Z are looking to reduce their alcohol consumption, they are very careful about what they are drinking,” said Nima. Meanwhile, Millennials and Gen X, who started from higher baseline levels, have relaxed some pandemicera caution.

Overall alcohol use dipped into a health and wellness peak during Covid, but in the last three to four years consumption has risen again across many groups.

The Next Decade

So, what will shape the next decade of alcobev? Quality over quantity was the mantra echoed by every panellist. Yet the path to that quality is complex, requiring relentless commitment to provenance, authenticity, storytelling and digital engagement.

As Anchal summarised, “There is a space for everybody right now, which is also an exciting space to be in.” The journey will be driven as much by evolving consumer palettes and digital experiences as by the brands and categories themselves.

If brands invest in craft and narrative, educate consumers and harness digital discovery, the next decade could be the one in which Indian spirits become reference points abroad. As Sanjeev urged, “Let’s build a story around it and make great universal global brands.”