Molson Coors Indian business
Molson Coors offers a wide range of lager brands in the Indian market. Credit: radovan on Unsplash.

Molson Coors is reportedly planning to sell its Indian business, including the beer brand Thunderbolt.

According to Times of India, the company intends to exit the Indian market, due to decreasing sales volumes in India because of the pandemic, as well as due to the policy inconsistency in states such as Bihar.

Molson Coors global spokesperson was quoted by Times of India as saying: “That work has been ongoing and we will share more information when a sale occurs. However, we will not engage in speculation and rumours.”

Currently, Molson Coors offers a wide range of lager brands in the Indian market including Millers, Coors, Blue Moon and Cobra.

Molson Coors entered the Indian market in 2011 by establishing a joint venture (JV) with Cobra Indian Beer, led by its founder Lord Karan Bilimoria, a British-Indian entrepreneur with brewing facilities in Bihar.

Times of India quoted the source as saying: “At one point, the company had 50% market share in the beer market in Bihar. The company’s fortunes changed when the Bihar government in 2016 banned the sale and consumption of all kinds of alcohol in the state.”

Last November, Molson Coors completed the divesture of its brewery in Irwindale, California to Irwindale Brew Yard (IBY), a subsidiary of Pabst Brewing Company.

In January, Molson Coors unveiled plans to close production at its 40-year old brewery in Irwindale, California by September.

At that time, the company granted Pabst an option to acquire the brewery for $150m.