Diageo Pauses Some Whiskey Sales in India to Push Price Hikes
- Alcohol titan in discussions with up to five Indian states
- Nagarajan pivots Diageo’s Indian arm toward premium market
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One of Hina Nagarajan’s first moves at the helm of liquor giant Diageo Plc’s Indian arm is a standoff with government officials over price caps that have already cost the company almost $9 million in sales, and some say might backfire.
United Spirits Ltd. has paused whiskey sales in a number of states yet to budge on price caps despite rising inflation. The move to stop sales rather than see margins continue to erode is a risky bet, analysts at Mumbai-based Dolat Capital wrote last month, that could complicate the firm’s pivot to premium products. It also means a mounting loss of revenue across its portfolio while costs rise at a double-digit pace.