University of Adelaide, regarded as one of the world's best centres of excellence for education and research in viticulture and oenology (the science of viniculture) is currently drafting the curriculum for the institute.

The institute will be called The Indian Institute of Vine and Wine and will be set up on a 100 acre land with an investment of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion).

Champagne Indage and the University of Adelaide, world-renowned university which offers courses in wine-making, have already signed an MoU to set up the institute.

The institute will be operational by 2008. It will offer a three-year diploma programme (from 10th level), a four-year degree programme and two-year masters degree programme in various areas of wine making, marketing, finance and vine growing. It will also facilitate research in the field of wine making.

The degree will be awarded by University of Adelaide and would not only be valid in India and Australia, but all over the world. The students would be required to move to Australia during their last semester and would also appear for exams in Australia.

"This will help the industry to provide with trained technicians, laboratory workers, wine makers and viticulturists to work for the growing Indian wine market," said S G Chougule, chairman, Indage Group of Companies.

A wine maker can start his career with a salary between Rs 30,000-50,000 per month. One can draw over Rs 1.5 lakh per month based on his experience in the industry. By the year 2020, it is expected that India's wine industry will require 10,000 skilled viticulturists (vine growers), 5,000 winery staff operators, 1,000 wine makers (graduates), 500 wine maker experts (post graduates), 2,500 wine marketing (graduates) and 1,000 wine finance (graduates).

But as compared to the demand, the supply, clearly, is inadequate. The Indian wine market stands at Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) in value terms.