Scotch, not so neat

On his way to better drinking

BEFORE he was lured by Diageo to run United Spirits Limited (USL), in which the British drinks giant secured a majority stake last year, Anand Kripalu had spent 30 years working for branded consumer-goods firms. Most of that time was at Unilever, a maker of soaps and shampoo. India’s booze industry is grubbier, and Mr Kripalu wants to clean it up. “We will do what it takes to change the reputation of United Spirits and of the drinks industry in India,” he says.

For a distiller of premium-branded Scotch, such as Diageo, India is an attractive market. It is by far the biggest whisky market by volume, if not by value. People drink spirits rather than beer or wine, in part because of history—a taste for whisky goes back to the days of the British empire—but also because alcoholic drinks are taxed by volume. What is more, Indians are brand-conscious and the types of drinks they know are mostly European—in contrast to China, where the bulk of the spirits market is local liquor.

United Spirits is the dominant firm in Indian spirits, supplying around half the market. Much of what...

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