AIBA Meets Devans Modern Breweries CMD Prem Dewan to Discuss Beer Industry Policy and Regulatory Challenges

Devans Modern Breweries, one of AIBA’s oldest and most valued member companies headquartered in Pathankot, Punjab, brings decades of operational experience across multiple state markets — making the engagement particularly relevant for AIBA’s ongoing policy advocacy work. The discussions covered evolving state excise policies, market dynamics and regulatory developments affecting the brewing sector, with Devans’ multi-state presence offering ground-level perspective on how policy changes translate into real business impact for breweries across India.

AIBA’s Leadership Connect 2026 is a nationwide programme designed to move beyond formal correspondence and committee meetings, towards direct personal dialogue between the association’s leadership and brewery owners and senior industry figures across the country. The initiative is built on the premise that meaningful industry representation requires listening first — understanding the operational realities, challenges and priorities of member companies before shaping advocacy positions at state and central government levels.

Gopal Joshi, Secretary General, AIBA, said the insights shared by Prem Dewan and Ujjwal Dewan would directly strengthen AIBA’s policy representation efforts on behalf of India’s brewing sector, adding that long-standing industry leaders bring invaluable perspective on both the evolution of the sector and the current regulatory landscape.

With India’s beer industry navigating a complex and varied excise environment across states — from Karnataka’s e-auction model to Maharashtra’s premium retail reforms and UP’s expanding distribution network — direct engagement with multi-state operators like Devans gives AIBA a sharper, more comprehensive view of the challenges its advocacy needs to address in the months ahead.

AIBA’s Leadership Connect 2026 programme is expected to continue with meetings across other member companies and brewery leaders in the coming months. The insights gathered through these engagements will inform the association’s advocacy priorities and policy submissions for the remainder of 2026 and into the next financial year.

For India’s brewing industry, which has seen consistent volume growth alongside increasing regulatory complexity across state markets, initiatives like Leadership Connect signal a maturing of industry-association engagement — moving from reactive representation to proactive, relationship-driven advocacy that anticipates policy challenges before they become operational disruptions.