Talking to the media after United Breweries' annual general meeting in Bangalore on Saturday, Dr Mallya said UB would pick up 14 per cent stake in (at Rs 10 per share) Inertia which had a total capital base of Rs 31 crore.

An official source at UB put the consideration at Rs 4.5 crore. UB was in the process of expanding its breweries in Hyderabad and Mumbai, Dr Mallya said.

The company recently entered into an arrangement with a Nepal-based mineral water company to introduce a premium mineral water brand in India, he said.

The company already markets bottled water under the Kingfisher brand.On the software park development, Dr Mallya said the company had already spoken to a Singapore firm which had designed the Information Technology Park in Bangalore and the work was expected to be completed on a war-footing. The park would have a workspace of 1.5 million sq ft. "We are currently in talks with quite a number of IT majors," he said.

On the group's strategies, Dr Mallya said, "We have been assessing our assests and have decided to exit from businesses where we do not have core competencies."

Dr Mallya said it made good sense for the company to move its brewery from the present prime location as the company was advised by a consultancy not to get into real estate or hotel businesses. "The rent and lease charges are expected to boost our bottom line," he said. The UB corporate office would be moved to a new premises in eight weeks' time, he added.

When queried on WTO implications on the group's business, Dr Mallya said in absolute volumes the company sold more spirit than the rest of the industry did in total. However, he said the WTO issue was still hanging fire.

Fera violation case
Reacting to media queries on the recent Fera violation case filed against him and UB group, Dr Mallya said, "The so called Fera violation charges against the company were baseless and planted. First of all, the government did not permit me to go ahead with the plans, then how could I pay any money to anyone." He said neither he nor the company had received any show cause notices or any intimation from the authorities. "The so called forgery of an acknowledgement (from the finance ministry) was really ridiculous," he said, referring to reports in the media about a forgery case filed against the company by the Delhi police.