India's craft gin sector is experiencing its most significant expansion yet, with five new distilleries opening in the first quarter of 2026 alone. The launches — in Goa, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pondicherry, and Dehradun — bring the total number of licensed gin distilleries in India to an estimated thirty-eight, up from just six in 2019.
The growth is being fuelled by a convergence of factors: a young, urban middle class with growing disposable income and sophisticated tastes; progressive changes to state-level excise regulations; and a botanical heritage that gives Indian distillers access to ingredients — cardamom, turmeric, Himalayan juniper, Nagpur orange — that many international producers can only import at considerable expense.
The New Wave
Among the new openings, the most anticipated is Monsoon Distillery in Goa, founded by former advertising executive Priya Menon. The distillery's flagship product, Monsoon Malabar Gin, uses a base of locally sourced feni — a spirit distilled from cashew fruit that is unique to Goa — redistilled with nineteen botanicals including black pepper from the Wayanad hills, coconut flower, and Goan kokum fruit.
"We're not trying to make a London Dry with Indian botanicals," Menon told Gin Directory. "We're making a gin that could only come from Goa — from its ingredients, its culture, its climate. The feni base gives us something no European gin can replicate."
In Bangalore, Sakura Spirits has opened a distillery focused on the intersection of Japanese and Indian flavour profiles. Their Zen Garden Gin combines Japanese yuzu and shiso with Indian saffron and Mysore sandalwood — a combination that reflects Bangalore's increasingly cosmopolitan character. Meanwhile, Mumbai's Heritage Distillery is taking a more traditional approach, producing a classic London Dry using Indian-sourced botanicals that emphasises juniper from the Himalayan foothills.
Regulatory Tailwinds
The regulatory environment has been a crucial enabler. In 2024, several Indian states — including Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa — simplified their excise licensing processes for small-scale distilleries, reducing the bureaucratic burden that had previously made craft distilling uneconomic. Karnataka went further, creating a specific "artisan distillery" licence category with lower fees and simplified compliance requirements.
These changes have not gone unnoticed internationally. Several global spirits companies have begun exploring partnerships with Indian distillers, and at least two major UK gin brands are understood to be in discussions about contract distilling arrangements that would allow them to produce India-specific expressions using local botanicals.
Market Opportunity
The Indian gin market, while still small by global standards, is growing at approximately twenty-five per cent annually, according to data from Euromonitor. Premium gin sales — defined as products retailing above 2,000 rupees (approximately £19) — grew by forty-two per cent in 2025, indicating that Indian consumers are rapidly trading up from the mass-market brands that have traditionally dominated the spirits landscape.
However, challenges remain. Distribution outside major cities is difficult, with India's complex state-by-state liquor regulations making nationwide rollouts prohibitively expensive for small producers. And competition from imported gins — which carry a cachet that domestic brands are still working to establish — means Indian distillers must compete on quality, narrative, and distinctiveness rather than price.
"The next five years will define Indian gin," said drinks industry analyst Vikram Patel. "The distilleries opening now will either establish India as a world-class gin-producing country, or the market will consolidate around a few winners. Either way, the quality of what's being produced is already remarkable."
