British businessman and member of the House of Lords, Lord Karan Bilimoria, is positive about manufacturing and distributing the popular brand, Cobra Beer, in India once again, Hyderabad-born Bilimoria, who is the founder of Cobra Beer, said on the sidelines of an event held in the capital of Telangana. Getting into the details of how the dream run of Cobra was cut short due to the Bihar government’s policy, he said that “he was waiting to start again”.
“We had a very bad experience in Bihar with Nitish Kumar (Chief Minister) when he announced prohibition in 2016. Seven years later, it's still there. So, unfortunately, we had to close down our operations in India. It was doing so well before that. We were growing at 50 per cent a year. We were profitable, expanding around the country. Unfortunately, that (prohibition) destroyed our plans. But I am now waiting to start again,” he said.
Cobra Beer, which quickly gained popularity in India, exited the market soon after their Bihar plant was shut down. However, Cobra continues to perform well in the UK markets and the 40 countries where it is exported, according to Bilimoria.
“In the UK, we are a household name, distributed in 7,000 restaurants, tens of thousands of supermarkets. It is doing very well,” he said.
Cobra Beer, which has multiple variants now, was founded in 1989 to suit the pan-Asian cuisine. Bilimoria hails from the Parsi community and is an alumnus of Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, which has churned out top global corporate leaders, including Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Shantanu Narayan, CEO of Adobe.
He was the guest of honor at The Hyderabad Public School’s traditional annual Investiture Ceremony, organized to recognize and honor its outstanding student leaders. On this occasion, he launched the Leadership program, a new initiative of the school.
Gusti Noria, President of HPS Society, said that they plan to invest around 75 crores in the next five years to upgrade infrastructure and improve sports facilities at the 100-year-old school, which is an integral part of Hyderabad’s history.
In his address to the students, Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari spoke on the importance of pursuing excellence and teamwork. He invited the students to explore career options in the Indian armed forces.
