Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 25: A Nashik firm has shipped wine-processing tanks to Italy, a notable test of Indian engineering. Yet equipment makers see their bigger opportunity in new wineries at home.
Nashik-based Envision Equipments has shipped specialised wine-processing machinery to Florence, Italy. The consignment comprises two Aroma multiplier tanks dispatched from Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva port. For India’s wine-equipment industry, the destination matters more than the size. Italy is home to a long-established wine sector and a deep machinery manufacturing base. Selling equipment into that market signals that Indian engineering can meet demanding standards.
The two tanks hold 2,000 litres and 1,200 litres respectively. Managing director Harsh Jha described the consignment as small. The ET report put its value at about 21,000, without specifying the currency. Jha said talks are under way with the Italian buyer for 10 more machines. Those machines remain under discussion. Indian makers have earlier shipped wine-processing equipment to Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
Yet Jha sees exports as a showcase rather than the main business. He believes the company’s future rests largely on India’s own winery growth. Each new winery needs tanks, fermenters and processing lines from the outset.
Today the domestic base remains modest. India has around 140 wineries, estimates Nashik-based consultant Neeraj Agarwal. Only 50 to 60 of them are fully operational, he said. Agarwal, a former Sula Vineyards executive, said most cluster in Maharashtra’s Nashik belt. Karnataka and a few other states host smaller operations. That cluster has also made Nashik a natural home for equipment makers.
Growth may increasingly come from outside grape country. Several non-grape wineries have opened around Lucknow and Muzaffarnagar in recent years, Jha said. Near Lucknow, a winery started last year inside a 100-acre mango orchard. Agarwal described Uttar Pradesh as a new hotspot for equipment demand. He said fruit-based wineries could reshape where India makes wine. Such units could give farmers another outlet for locally grown produce. They would complement, rather than replace, established grape wineries.
Rajasthan and Uttarakhand could follow, according to Jha. Both states are consulting stakeholders on easing winery rules, he said. Simpler procedures would make it easier to set up wineries using local fruit. Any changes, however, remain under discussion.
Ghaziabad-based Fabtech Innovations shares the domestic focus. The company mainly builds food-processing equipment but has made wine machinery for over a decade. It exported machines to a new winery in Uganda last year. It has also supplied a newly established winery in Muzaffarnagar. Chief executive Gurdeep Singh expects domestic wineries to drive more of its growth. That depends, he said, on more states easing the path for new wineries.
Market forecasts point to room for expansion. Grand View Horizon estimates India’s wine market at $890 million for 2025. Its March report projects about $2.6 billion by 2033. That implies forecast annual growth of nearly 15%. The report cites India’s young population, urbanisation and wine’s image as a status symbol.
A larger market by value need not mean proportionally higher equipment demand. Still, wider winery investment would give machinery makers a steadier order book. The Italian shipment proves capability. Sustained growth will depend on wineries taking root at home.
