My Bombay dream

A LOOK at Karan F Bilimoria's CV is enough to make a grown man weep. His achievements are so many and his interests so wide that you can only wonder how the man finds time to sleep, let alone chat to journalists.

He is best known as the founder and chief executive of Cobra Beer, the slightly expensive but rather tasty lager-beer that slips down so well with a curry.

But running a big company is obviously not enough of a challenge for this 42-year-old. He lists an astonishing 32 appointments and memberships on that bulky CV - from Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London, through countless Government bodies to founding UK president of the faith-based Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce.

And just to turn the knife of envy a touch more he directly supports several charities and was made a Commander of the British Empire this year. And let's not forget his membership of the Delhi Gymkhana Club.

Not surprisingly, Bilimoria's modest boardroom is cluttered with trophies - he makes a habit of winning entrepreneur of the year awards - and certificates.

But the awards he seems most proud of are the three ashtray-sized gold medals on the window sill that were won by his Cobra brew at an international beer festival for three years in succession.

Cobra was founded in 1989. Bilimoria, who trained as an accountant, noted the enthusiasm with which Britons tucked into their chicken tikka masalas.

He says: 'I had this wild idea to produce a beer that went with Indian food when no one else had thought of it.'

Bilimoria did not come from a family in the brewing business. Indeed, his father was General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Indian Army.

Bilimoria founded the firm with a loan of £20,000, filled a battered Citroen 2CV with bottles of Cobra and knocked on the doors of restaurants. It went well. Last year turnover topped £60 million.

Though Cobra was first brewed in Bangalore, supply problems meant that the operation was moved to Bedford. Now, bizarrely, Bilimoria wants to crack the rapidly expanding Indian market.

He says: 'Average consumption is about 0.7 litres per head a year [in the UK, the figure is 24 litres]. China was at this stage 20 years ago and consumption is now 20 litres per head. There is a great opportunity as India becomes more wealthy.'

Joining forces with the Mount Shivalik brewery, Cobra is being made in Rajasthan in a brewery refurbished by Staffordshire company Briggs of Burton. The first bottles should clink off the production line in the next few weeks.

Karan Bilimoria certainly hopes that will prove the case. With his cousin Perses he plans to increase production in India to one million cases a year. If all goes well, a second brewery will come on line.

Born in Hyderabad, Bilimoria speaks with the precision and grammatical perfection that comes from a good Indian education. But he has been living in the UK since 1981, has British nationality and says he feels equally at home in both countries. He has been married to Heather for almost 11 years and the couple have three children.

His aim now is to cement Cobra as a truly global brand. 'The beer market in the UK is hugely demanding. If you can make a success of a beer here, you can make it successful anywhere in the world.

'Cobra is a premium brand and people are happy to pay a little more for quality.'

As well as expansion in India, Cobra is selling in America - though it is known as Krait because a rival owns a King Cobra brand - and in 28 other countries.

But India is the big prize. 'It has always been my dream to sell a beer in India, for Indians,' he says.

Ironically, it has taken success in the curry houses of Britain to make that dream come true.