Suraj Industries is an Indian alcoholic-beverage company built on a single, repeated idea: buy a working plant, then use its cash flows to reach backward into distilling and sideways into new states and brands. It began in 1992 as a trader of edible oils and empty glass bottles, but the business that exists today was born in mid‑2021 when the company acquired a contract‑bottling unit in Rajasthan and pivoted entirely toward liquor. Since then it has added a Diageo‑linked distillery associate, a greenfield integrated distillery‑and‑bottling complex, and a country‑liquor market leader in Himachal Pradesh - each step funded by the operations that came before. # Business segments Four engines at different stages - a government‑contract bottling operation that throws off cash, a fast‑growing integrated distillery under construction, a Diageo‑tied associate that already distills and bottles at scale, and a newly acquired country‑liquor franchise in the hills - each built with the cash flows of the one before. ## 1. Rajasthan contract bottling and own‑brand country liquor: the cash‑generating anchor **A government monopoly pays the company to bottle cheap spirits on its behalf, while the company also sells its own country‑liquor brands into the same state‑run system.** - **Paid per case by the state** - SIL manufactures Rajasthan Made Liquor (RML) for Rajasthan State Ganganagar Sugar Mills Limited, a government undertaking that holds the exclusive wholesale rights for country liquor and RML in the state, so the customer is effectively the government itself. - **Two plants, one customer type** - the original Tetra Pack bottling line at Ajmer started commercial production in July 2021, and a second fully automatic line at Jodhpur was commissioned in May 2024 with a capacity of 2,200 cases per day (a case is 48 bottles of 180 ml), both dedicated to RML and country liquor. - **Own brands ride the same rails** - alongside the contract work, SIL markets its own proprietary country‑liquor brands through the same state‑regulated channels, which means it earns both a bottling fee and a brand margin from the same distribution pipe. - **Policy is the real risk** - liquor is a state subject in India, so the company depends on state governments for price increases and can be shut down overnight by prohibition, as has happened in Gujarat and Bihar. ## 2. Carya Chemicals: the backward‑integration bet under construction **A 90‑acre integrated complex in Rajasthan that will turn grain into alcohol and bottle it - half the plant is already running, and the distillery is due by mid‑2026.** - **A multi‑brand factory floor** - Carya bottles its own RML and country‑liquor brands (names like Carya Black Leo XXX Rum and Carya Jhumroo), and under manufacturing agreements it also bottles IMFL brands for Allied Blenders & Distillers (Officer’s Choice Prime Whisky, Sterling Reserve B7) and Radico Khaitan, making the plant a shared facility that earns from multiple brand owners. - **SIL is its own customer** - a manufacturing agreement signed in March 2025 requires Carya to bottle SIL’s country‑liquor and RML brands at a flat charge of ₹30 per case, which lets SIL place production closer to end markets and cut freight costs. - **Subsidies lower the build cost** - the bottling and ENA units qualify for a VAT refund under the Rajasthan Investment Promotion Scheme (capped at 200% of fixed capital investment), the ethanol unit gets a production‑linked incentive of ₹1.50 per litre plus an SGST refund of about ₹1 per litre, and the central government provides an interest subvention of 50% of the interest cost or 6%, whichever is lower. - **Ownership has been steadily consolidated** - SIL’s stake in Carya has risen from an initial 62% in June 2022 to over 96% by June 2026, turning a once‑minority project into a near‑wholly‑owned subsidiary. ## 3. Shri Gang Industries: the Diageo‑linked distiller **A listed associate with an exclusive manufacturing tie‑up with United Spirits (Diageo) - it already runs a 55‑KLPD grain distillery and an IMFL bottling plant in Uttar Pradesh.** - **Diageo’s contract manufacturer** - Shri Gang has an exclusive arrangement with United Spirits Limited to produce several of its marquee IMFL brands, and a long‑term supply agreement for ENA, making it a dedicated manufacturing partner to the world’s largest spirits company. - **Distillery and bottling under one roof** - the plant at Sandila, Uttar Pradesh, started bottling IMFL and country liquor in July 2020 and added a 55‑KLPD grain‑based ENA distillery in September 2022, so it is already doing what Carya is still building. - **SIL holds a minority stake with influence** - SIL first bought 20.08% in July 2022 and has since made multiple small purchases from promoter‑group members, though subsequent share issuances by Shri Gang have diluted the holding to 18.83% as of June 2026; SIL has also lent it ₹6.50 crore at 12.5% interest. ## 4. VRV Foods: the hill‑state country‑liquor franchise **A newly acquired Himachal Pradesh bottler that holds roughly a third of the state’s country‑liquor market, with one brand alone bringing in most of its revenue.** - **A 32% market share behind a regulatory wall** - country liquor in Himachal Pradesh is tightly controlled, creating high entry barriers, and VRV Foods has built an estimated 32% share of that market with an extensive distribution network across the state. - **One brand does the heavy lifting** - the flagship ‘VRV Santra’ contributes roughly 80-85% of the company’s country‑liquor revenue, so the franchise rests on a single, deeply entrenched product. - **Acquisition in stages** - SIL’s board approved the purchase of a 50.03% stake from promoter‑group entities for about ₹37 crore; by March 2026 it had closed on 20.01%, making VRV an associate, with the remainder expected during FY26-27. # Group structure and partners **The group is a web of promoter‑linked entities and strategic investors, with Diageo and Radico Khaitan as manufacturing clients and a JK‑Group company as a minority shareholder with veto rights over strategy.** - **Promoters hold 51% of the listed parent** - the Managing Director, Mr. Suraj Prakash Gupta, and the Joint Managing Director, Mr. Ritesh Gupta, together control the group; Mr. Ritesh Gupta is also the promoter and Managing Director of VRV Foods, the Himachal Pradesh subsidiary being acquired. - **Ayodhya Finlease (JK Group) is a strategic gatekeeper** - it holds just under 20% of SIL and, under its investment agreement, can block the company from venturing outside edible oils, ethanol and liquor as long as it owns at least 10%; it also has the right to nominate one non‑executive director to SIL and its subsidiaries. - **Diageo and Radico are the anchor clients** - Shri Gang’s exclusive bottling and ENA supply arrangement is with United Spirits (Diageo), while Carya bottles for Allied Blenders & Distillers and has a manufacturing arrangement with Radico Khaitan, meaning the group’s plants are built around third‑party brand owners as much as its own labels. - **A legacy trading business still runs in the background** - SIL continues to trade edible oils (palm, soybean) and commodities such as rice and malt, a remnant of its pre‑2021 identity, though the company has stated it is progressively exiting this segment.