Cheaper Scotch is quietly making Indian whisky cheaper too

Friday, 24 July 2026 at 15:04

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India's import duty on Scotch was halved on 15 July 2026, and consumers still aren't seeing lower prices on the shelf. But there is a group that felt the change almost immediately, and it isn't Scotch drinkers. It's the Indian distillers who were supposed to lose out.

Most Scotch entering India never ends up in a Scotch bottle

India is the largest market for Scotch whisky in the world at the moment. In 2025, around 286 million pounds worth of Scotch made its way to the country, the equivalent of roughly 220 million 700-millilitre bottles.

A large share of it is shipped in bulk rather than in finished bottles. Industry estimates put bulk at close to 80 percent of Scotch imports into India by volume. Some of it is bottled locally as Scotch. On the other hand, much of it disappears into Indian whisky brands, where imported malt and grain spirit is blended with domestically produced spirit.

That means the 150 percent import duty was never just a tax on imported bottles. It was a raw-material cost for a big part of India's own whisky industry.

Why lower import duty cuts the cost of Indian whisky

Halve that duty and you halve the tariff on the blending stock. According to experts the most immediate benefit will be felt by companies exporting both bottled and bulk whisky, and that reduced tariffs may therefore benefit Indian producers who rely on imported Scotch for their own brands.

It is a strange outcome for a trade deal that was reported almost entirely as a win for Scotland. The Scotch industry gets better access to a market of 2.4 billion bottles a year. Indian blenders get their imported component at a lower landed cost. Both sides of the supply chain move at once, because in India they are the same supply chain.

Indian single malt is the one under pressure

The picture changes when you move up the shelf to look at Indian single malt whisky. Indian single malt has spent a decade winning on quality and price at the same time and that has been working: of all the cases of single malt sold in India in 2023, about 345,000 were Indian in origin, according to figures reported by the Times of India.

That price advantage was built on a competitor carrying a 150 percent tariff. With the tariff at 75 percent and heading to 40 percent over the next decade, the gap narrows every year. Shares in several Indian drinks companies fell by up to five percent on the day the agreement was announced.

Paul P. John, chairman of John Distilleries, warned that a sudden influx of lower-priced Scotch could affect domestic sales, while adding that he was confident in the quality of Indian whisky and hoped the deal would improve access for Indian brands entering the UK.

It also helps explain the timing of the Indian Malt Whisky Association's new certification trademark, announced in New Delhi in June 2026. If you can no longer compete purely on price, you compete on provenance.

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So will Indian whisky actually get cheaper?

Not overnight, and for the same reasons Scotch hasn't. India has no single national alcohol market. States set their own excise rates, registration rules and distribution margins, and new retail prices often need approval before they can take effect.

FAQ

Does India import Scotch in bulk?
Yes. A substantial share of Scotch entering India arrives as bulk spirit, estimated at close to 80 percent by volume, and much of it is used within Indian whisky brands.
Does the lower import duty help Indian distillers?
It helps blenders who use imported Scotch as a component, because their raw material becomes cheaper. It increases competitive pressure on Indian single malt producers.
How much is India's import duty on Scotch now?
Since 15 July 2026 it is 75 percent, down from 150 percent, falling to 40 percent over ten years for whisky that meets the agreement's rules of origin.