Craft beer and microbrewery rules by state in India, October 2026

One country, seventeen rulebooks

Beer is a state subject in India, so a craft brewer in Pune, Gurugram and Bengaluru is working under three different laws. We read the current excise policies, rules and notifications for 17 states and union territories as they stood on 8 October 2026. Each one has its own guide. This page is the map: who allows a microbrewery, who lets that microbrewery sell kegs to other bars and how a restaurant without a brewery gets craft beer on tap.

Rates and rules change every budget, and several states publish them only as scanned notifications. Treat every figure here as a starting point, then check the current notification for your state or ask a licensing adviser. None of this is legal advice.

States where a microbrewery can supply other bars

This is the question that decides whether a craft brand can grow without owning a chain of brewpubs. In these states a small brewery may send kegs to other licensed venues:

• Maharashtra: since the February 2024 amendment both micro-breweries and restaurant-breweries may issue craft beer in kegs directly to retail licence holders, at a flat ₹60 per bulk litre.
• Goa: kegs and bottles may be sold to other licensed premises inside the state.
• Himachal Pradesh: bars may lift kegs of up to 30 litres from an L-10C microbrewery on an assessed fee.
• Chandigarh: 25 and 50 litre kegs may go to licensed bars against an excise permit.
• Rajasthan: a microbrewery may supply hotel, club and restaurant bars against duty-paid permits.

States where craft beer stays on the premises

Here the microbrewery licence exists but the beer is served where it is brewed, usually as draught and sometimes in growlers:

• Karnataka: draught only, inside a CL-9 or similar licensed premises. Beer has been taxed on alcohol content since May 2026.
• Telangana: drunk on site, no bottling. Opened to all municipal corporations in July 2025.
• Delhi: the L-11 licence is on-site only. The 2021-22 policy that allowed kegs and growlers was withdrawn in 2022.
• Haryana: L-10C for bar holders, on-site only, with duty charged on installed fermenter capacity.
• Punjab: the L-10C rule text we found allows no off-premises sale, though Punjab publishes little current detail.
• West Bengal: a licence exists, but the state corporation holds the whole wholesale trade, so in practice there is no route to other bars.

States where the rules are unclear or missing

Some states license microbreweries without saying whether they may supply anyone else. Andhra Pradesh widened where microbreweries may open in January 2026. Uttar Pradesh allows growlers of up to 5 litres. Uttarakhand allows growlers and small kegs from its micro pub breweries. Madhya Pradesh opened its licence to more bar holders in 2025. None of the four sets out a clear route to supply other venues. Ask the excise office in writing before you build a plan on it.

Two states have no microbrewery licence at all. Tamil Nadu ruled one out in 2019 and only clubs and star hotels can pour draught. Kerala has discussed one since 2005 and had still not notified it in June 2026.

How duty is charged

States charge beer duty in roughly four ways. Some take a multiple of the declared manufacturing or ex-brewery cost, as Maharashtra and Rajasthan do. Some charge a flat amount per bulk litre, often lower for beer under 5% ABV. Karnataka now charges on the alcohol in the beverage. Several, including Haryana and Chandigarh, charge a microbrewery on its installed fermenter capacity, paid in advance whether or not the beer sells. That last model rewards a brewery that fills its tanks and punishes one that over-builds. It is the single best argument for sizing a brewhouse to the demand you can prove. Our guide to beer excise in India explains the general mechanics.

Pouring craft beer without your own brewery

In every state the venue needs an on-trade licence: a bar, restaurant-bar, beer bar or club licence under the state's own naming. Where a state corporation controls wholesale, as in Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and West Bengal, the kegs come through that corporation and a craft brand must first be listed with it. In states with private wholesale, such as Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the brand reaches bars through licensed wholesalers or brewery depots. The five states listed above as allowing microbreweries to supply bars give a small brand the shortest path to a tap. Our Maharashtra guide to craft taps without a brewery walks through a full example.