1. You sell to a licensed importer
Only a company holding an Indian import licence can bring wine into the country. The importer buys from you, pays you, clears customs and sells on to distributors, retailers, hotels and restaurants. You need the right importer, and no Indian company of your own.
2. The importer holds the licences
An Importer Exporter Code from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, a central import licence from the food safety authority FSSAI, a state excise licence, and GST and customs portal registrations. A producer never applies for these. Ask any importer which ones they hold.
3. Each state is its own market
Alcohol is regulated by each Indian state. Each state sets its own excise duty, fees and rules, and most states require your label to be registered with them before a bottle can be sold there. Some states, including Gujarat and Bihar, are dry. So wine enters India one state at a time, and the first state is a real choice.
4. Federal import duty is 150 percent of the landed value
That is the total at the border: 50 percent basic customs duty plus a 100 percent agriculture infrastructure cess, applied to the cost, insurance and freight value. Alcohol sits outside GST, so no goods and services tax is charged at import. State duties and fees come on top, and they differ from state to state. Your importer will give you the figures for their state.
5. Your price has to work backwards from the shelf
Between your cellar door and an Indian shelf sit freight, 150 percent federal duty, state excise, and the importer's, distributor's and retailer's margins. A wine that is reasonable in Europe can arrive expensive. So the export price is worked back from what the shelf will bear in the chosen state.
6. The EU and India trade agreement is not yet in force
Negotiations concluded in January 2026. The agreement still needs signature and ratification on both sides, so 150 percent applies today. When it comes into force, duty on wine falls in steps over several years, but only for wine above a set price per bottle, and never to zero. Plan on today's duty.
7. Samples and trade fairs follow the same rules
There is no duty exemption for wine at Indian trade fairs. Wine for a tasting is imported commercially, duty paid, through a licensed importer, and labelled for exhibition and tasting only under food safety rules. A producer who wants to show wine at a tasting in India arranges this with an importer several months ahead.
8. The label is a separate job
Indian back-label requirements and state registration mean your European label usually needs an Indian version. The importer handles registration. The producer supplies the technical details and artwork.
What Diwinely does in this
We choose the state, find the licensed importer who fits the wine and the volume, work the price back from the shelf, and stay with both sides through label registration, the first order and reorders. The importer buys from the producer and pays the producer.
Published 8 October 2026. Rules and rates change; check the current position with your importer before you price.