India’s largest brewer, United Breweries Ltd (UBL), is putting Rs 90 crore into a new canning line at its Nizam Brewery in Telangana as it races to keep pace with surging demand for beer in cans.
The facility, expected to be operational within a year, will add 0.4 million hectolitres of capacity on top of the existing 0.5 million hectolitres at the site. The investment, funded through internal accruals, has already cleared all regulatory approvals, including a building permit issued by the Industrial Area Local Authority at Kothlapur earlier this week.
Chairman and managing director Vivek Gupta, who flagged the supply crunch in cans during the Q1FY25 earnings call, said Telangana remains one of India’s most lucrative beer markets and that consumer preference is clearly tilting toward cans. “With this investment, we are confident of gaining market share in this fast-growing format while continuing to serve the iconic taste of Kingfisher, Ultra and Heineken in a way that connects with younger consumers,” Gupta said.
Industry estimates put India’s beer market at around 400 million cases as of mid-2025, with cans moving from the mid-teens to the high teens as a share of volumes in just the past year. Analysts note that premiumisation and at-home consumption have accelerated this shift, making canning capacity a critical lever for growth.
United Breweries currently operates two breweries in Telangana and a network of plants nationwide. The latest expansion at Nizam Brewery underscores its strategy of aligning production with consumer trends, particularly in packaging formats that are gaining ground rapidly.
The company, majority-owned by Dutch brewer Heineken, closed FY24 with steady volume growth despite pricing pressures, and sees the Telangana investment as central to defending its leadership in the country’s competitive beer landscape.
