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Rajeev was speaking as the chairperson at the Mahawine
Conference held in Nashik on Grapes and Wine on 11-13 January. Enthused
by the 300 grape growing farmers, he felt that Maharashtra should be able
to achieve the annual target of bringing 3000 acres of land into vineyards
during the next decade
'It is a big task, but at the same time it provides a
big opportunity, as rural incomes in our country are not rising', he commented.
He also felt that the wine grape cultivation which rose from 1% five years
ago to 5% at the present will further rise to 20% in a decade.
'We had only 4 wineries producing 2 m liters of wine
in 2001, when the government came out with the pro-active excise policy.
Today 51 wineries produce 13 m liters. This has set an unprecedented trend
for phenomenal growth of the nascent industry, which has been growing
at a phenomenal rate 30% in the recent past.'
Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal averred in his keynote
address that wine is a preferred drink in parties these days. Adding a
bit of promotional touch for the Indian wines, Rajeev claimed that socialites
and page 3 persons take pride in serving and drinking Indian wine at the
parties these days.
He showed his disappointment about a few doctors claiming
at a medical conference in Delhi last year that wine an all alcohols were
bad for health and that there were no studies that categorically substantiated
that wine is in fact good for heart. 'Research across the world has adequately
proved that regulated consumption of red wine is good to control coronary
heart disease,' he said.
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