QUETTA: A Chinese liquor company, the Hui Coastal Brewery and Distillery Limited, which was granted a licence in 2018 for making beer, has formally started production at its plant in Balochistan’s industrial town of Hub.

An official of the provincial excise and taxation department confirmed on Tuesday that the company had been granted a licence which it had applied for in 2017.

The company registered itself with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on April 30, 2020, after completing installation of liquor plant in Hub town.

“The company formally started its beer production last week, which product will be supplied to Chinese nationals working at various projects launched in different areas of Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and mines and mineral projects in Balochistan,” Mohammad Zaman Khan, director general, Excise and Taxation South, told Dawn.

He confirmed a licence had been issued to the Chinese company in 2018 as it had submitted an application to the authorities concerned in 2017, pleading that the beer and liquor brand which the company produces in China is not available in Pakistan.

“The application took over a year for approval and in 2018 the former Balochistan government agreed to issue a licence to the Chinese company,” the DG Excise and Taxation South said.

Sources said the Hui Coastal Brewery and Distillery Limited, which is famous for producing some of the world’s most famous liquor brands, made an investment of Rs3 million for installing a modern liquor plant on a five-acre plot of land in Hub. It is learnt that for the time being the Chinese company would produce beer to fulfil the requirement of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2021