2026.09.19
United Breweries (UBL) is India's largest beer company, with Kingfisher as its mainstay, and it belongs to the Heineken group of the Netherlands.
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Legal name | United Breweries Limited |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru (Karnataka) |
| Parent company | HEINEKEN group |
| Revenue | ₹9,240 crore net of excise duty (FY2026 = fiscal year ended March 2026 / approx. 160.8 billion yen). On a gross basis including excise duty, ₹17,508.66 crore, down about 10% year on year. Net income was ₹413 crore, down from ₹442 crore the year before |
| Main brands | Kingfisher, Kingfisher Ultra, Ultra Max, Heineken, Heineken Silver, Amstel, UB Export, London Pilsner, Bullet, Kalyani Black Label |
| Sales scale | 13 brands and 28 products, 207 million cases in FY2026. Exports to more than 50 countries |
| Listing | Listed on the BSE and NSE |
| Official website | unitedbreweries.com |
Alcoholic drinks in India have different licensing, taxation and distribution in every state, and the conditions change each time you cross a state line. UBL has breweries and contract partners in each state and has built an organization able to handle that complexity.
It holds the mass-market tier with Kingfisher while going after the higher price tiers with Heineken and Amstel.
In FY2026 (fiscal year ended March 2026), revenue net of excise duty rose to ₹9,240 crore from ₹8,915 crore the year before, while on a gross basis including excise duty it fell about 10% to ₹17,508.66 crore and net income declined to ₹413 crore. That year it sold 207 million cases across 13 brands and 28 products and exported to more than 50 countries.
For a Japanese brewer entering India, assembling its own brewery and state-by-state licenses is not realistic. The choice comes down to contract brewing with an existing beer company such as UBL or coming in through imports. It is also a company worth studying to understand how complex the state-level rules are.
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