A new Fife whisky distillery will generate nearly £4 million of exports and create 15 new jobs in the region.
Indian beverages group Kyndal has entered into a joint venture with John Fergus & Co Ltd to establish a new £6.7m malt distillery and bonded warehouse project in Glenrothes.
The distillery will focus on sales to the Indian, African and Far Eastern markets. The new venture will create 15 jobs as well as generate exports worth a predicted £3.6m to Scotland over the next three years.
Scottish Enterprise and its international arm Scottish Development International have been working with the companies on their development plans.
The enterprise company is providing a £240,000 regional selective assistance grant while the Scottish Government’s food processing, marketing and cooperation scheme has put up £1.6m in funding.
The announcement comes as External Affairs and International Development Minister Humza Yousaf meets with Kyndal Group management during his visit to India to promote business links between the two countries.
Mr Yousaf said: “I’m especially pleased to be announcing this good news while in India.
“This project is proof yet again that there are strong and positive economic reasons for setting up business in Scotland.
“It is also another reason to celebrate our strong relationship with the Indian business community and an example of why we should seek out more collaborations.”
The news was hailed by Fife Council’s business, enterprise, economy and planning spokeswoman Lesley Laird, who said the “fantastic” project would not only generate employment but would emphasise that “Fife means business”.
She added: “Fife has a dynamic and diverse economy and has much to offer different sectors of industry.
“We’ve already seen investment from major international companies such as Samsung Heavy Industries, Diageo and Amazon, and we also recognise the importance local businesses such as John Fergus & Co play in our economy and are keen to give our support.
“We have just formally launched our economic strategy, a key cornerstone of which is the importance of supporting the business community and making Fife the best place to do business.
“The council’s economic development team, working alongside Invest in Fife, plays a key role supporting businesses that have ambitions of investing and growing in Fife.
“We look forward to giving John Fergus & Co a warm welcome and wish them every success with their distillery in Glenrothes.”
The development has demonstrated the growing opportunities emerging for Scottish-Indian collaboration, according to Rooma Bussi, the India manager of Scottish Enterprise’s international arm.
“The Scottish whisky industry has seen major growth in recent years and now contributes over £4 billion annually to our economy.
“There is a rapidly increasing interest among consumers in Asia for Scotch whisky, which is leading to new opportunities for smaller distilleries, and I’m confident this will be the same for Kyndal and John Fergus & Co in Fife as they look to grow their operations both in Scotland and overseas.”
Kyndal Group managing director Siddharth Banerji said developments towards rationalisation in import duty structures would open up a large market for whisky and his firm, in partnership with John Fergus, would like to maximise this huge opportunity.
“Together, we would launch high-quality premium Scotch and ad-mix brands in these markets,” he said.
John Fergus’s managing director Ian Palmer said India was chosen as its principal market because of its excellent long-term growth potential and its entrepreneurial spirit.
“The Scotch whisky industry is currently enjoying a period of great demand and expansion, and now is the right time to be making such a bold investment,” Mr Palmer said.