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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 pointed 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. The consumption has gone
up to 2 million litres, reports Commodity Online, who
have published this news report. The figures
report are drastically low- actual consumption is generally
accepted at over 6 million liters for last year - editor
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
labelled after a particular grape variety must contain
at least 95 per cent of the juice obtained from that
variety, states the report. Fact is, this figure
can be as low as 75% -editor
Report: http://www.commodityonline.com
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