Hyderabad: After giving nod to microbreweries recently, the Telangana state government is now set to allow wineries in the state. Excise officials have drafted the “Nasik model” wherein wineries would be linked to grape gardens to encourage farmers to take up grape production.
Initially, five wineries will be permitted on the city outskirts, namely Chevella, Medchal, Shamirpet and Shamshabad. These areas were once famous for grape gardens but later sprouted function halls and realty projects following the real estate boom in the last two decades.
The government is now planning to revive the grape gardens on the city’s outskirts by linking their production with wineries to ensure good returns for farmers. “There is no wine production in Telangana at present. The government is forced to import wine from neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka. Even the grape gardens in the city’s outskirts have diminished over the years due to the realty boom. The government wants to encourage farmers to take up growing of grapes by setting up wineries,” said excise minister T. Padma Rao Goud.
The government had sent a team of Excise officials to Nasik in October, which is famous for wine production in the country. The team visited wineries and grape gardens and interacted with their representatives to devise a plan for Telangana for setting up wineries.
The government is also considering waiving 190 per cent VAT on production of wine to encourage the existing distilleries to take up the job. At present, Telangana has 17 distilleries. Of them, only 15 are functional. The government is planning to permit five wineries exclusively for the production of wine.
The government is even considering to revive the license of the three-decade old Golconda Distilleries on the city outskirts, which used to produce wines but had stopped production later due to diminishing of grape gardens.
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