Buoyed by the success of his British beer in India, London-based non-resident Indian businessman Karan Billimoria plans to set up a pound 10 million brewery either in Hyderabad or near Delhi.

Founder and chief executive of British Cobra Beer, Billimoria said the brewery would most probably be set up this year to manufacture three million cases of bear annually in the country.

He said that the company would acquire an Indian brewery for manufacturing Cobra beer in the country.

The company would subsequently set up more breweries in the country as Billimoria saw a growth potential of 30 to 40 times from the present annual production of 70 million cases of beer.

He said the per capita consumption of beer in the country was a mere 0.7 litre per year as against 18 litres in China and 55 litres in South Africa.

Despite a 400 per cent duty on imported beer, he said, his Cobra beer launched about a year back in the country has caught on. Due to this popularity, he said, he would not be setting up a brewery in India to meet the growing demand but would make it available at a lower price on par with Indian beer.

He preferred to acquire a brewery than a greenfield one as he would not want to go through the hassles of getting a licence, which was cumbersome and difficult.

But as part of expansion plans he would consider setting up greenfield breweries. Cobra beer was originally brewed in India at Mysore Breweries and exported to England.