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Informist, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Thursday issued notices to the Competition Commission of India and others on Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies and Association of Distillers, Brewers and Vintners of India's plea challenging the Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corporation's abuse of dominant position in the liquor market through a series of unfair and unilateral trade practices. The petitioners said that the Kerala body was unilaterally fixing purchase prices, putting out arbitrary tender conditions, discriminating between government and private manufacturers, delaying payments, and imposing additional charges without justification in Kerala.

 

Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies is an industry association representing alcohol beverage companies in India and companies closely associated with the Indian alcohol beverage industry. Its members include Allied Blenders & Distillers Ltd., Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd., Tilaknagar Industries Ltd., Jagatjit Industries Ltd., India Glycols Ltd., Associated Alcohols & Breweries Ltd. The Association of Distillers, Brewers is an association representing large, small, and medium-scale distillers operating in the state of Kerala.

 

The petitioners said that Kerala State Beverages Corp. was giving preferential treatment to Travancore Sugar and Chemicals Ltd. for wholesale procurement and distribution of branded alcoholic beverages in the state of Kerala. The best selling liquor in Kerala is rum, where Travancore Sugar supplies "Jawan Rum", said the petitioners. The wholesale margin to Travancore Sugar is 1.5% on the rum, while on others it is 8%, said the petitioners. Their rum is cheaper, nobody will buy other's, said the petitioners.

 

Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corp. is a government corporation established under the Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953, with exclusive control over procurement and wholesale distribution of alcoholic beverages in Kerala and Travancore Sugar is a government-owned distillery from which the former procures alcohol along with other private manufacturers. The petitioners said that the tender issued by Kerala State Beverages shows discriminatory margins and cash discounts between private and government brands. There are exit of private players from the market, thereby demonstrating harm to competition, said the petitioners. 

 

The petitioners said that Kerala State Beverages enjoys complete control over the supply chain because every private manufacturer must route supplies through it before reaching the retail level. There is no direct access available to private suppliers for sales to retailers or consumers, as the procurement and wholesale system is centralised through Kerala State Beverages, said the petitioners. Around 311 retail outlets in Kerala are state-owned enterprises, out of which the overwhelming majority are controlled either directly or indirectly by Kerala State Beverages, thereby reinforcing its control over the market, said the petitioners.

 

After the competition regulator refused to order a probe against Kerala State Beverages and Travancore Sugar, the petitioners moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. The appellate tribunal had held that Travancore Sugar manufactures only a single brand of rum, namely "Jawan Rum" and has been operating under significant constraints, including past closures and labour disputes. The benefit extended is minimal in nature, amounting to a discount of approximately INR 20, and does not materially distort market competition, said the appellate tribunal. Further large Indian Made Foreign Liquor, beer, and wine manufacturers cannot reasonably claim an inability to compete with such a small-scale entity, said the appellate tribunal. Challenging the appellate tribunal's order, the petitioners moved the apex court. 

 

At 1155 IST, the shares of India Glycols Ltd. were up 0.3% at INR 1,053.00 on the National Stock Exchange, the shares of Associated Alcohols & Breweries Ltd. were up 2.4% at INR 740.25, the shares of Allied Blenders and Distilleries Ltd. were up 3.7% at INR 637.00, the shares of Tilaknagar Industries Ltd. were up 5.7% at INR 561.00. The shares of Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd. were down 1.6% at INR 681.50. The shares of Jagatjit Industries Ltd. were up 0.9% at INR 181.25 on the BSE.  End 

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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