Speaking to The Financial Express, the managing director of the company, Mr Amar Sinha said: "The lifting of Quantitative Restrictions (QRs), will see a plethora of international brands in the Indian market. Keeping this in view, we are now working on a strategy to introduce a range of international premium brands in the country."

He said: "We plan to get into wholesale marketing and distribution of our own international brands as well as other popular international brands."Wine will be a major area of focus for the company in the year 2001. Radico Khaitan is optimistic that it will be able to capture large volumes in this market.

The company has already started negotiating with international wineries from Argentina, France and Africa for marketing their wines in the country. Mr Sinha said: "We have the advantage of having an international range of products from JPB Worldwide, the holding company of our joint venture Whyte and Mackay and the strong marketing network that Radico Khaitan has built over the years."

According to Mr Sinha, the Indian wine market remains untapped and there is a lot of potential in this market. ``This is an area which is going to grow substantially in this country and therefore we have it on top of our agenda."Acording to Mr Sinha, the company's strong marketing network is one of the reasons that has attracted many of the wineries towards it. He said "They are keen on using our marketing network spread across the country."