Vijay Mallya, owner of United Breweries Ltd said, it will manufacture Heniken beer in India and increase its distribution in the country. 

"Heineken is a brand image and profitability driver for the UB group not really a volume driver... In the next 18-24 months Heineken will be present in the 20 major cities in the country," Samar Singh Sheikhawat, senior vice-president, marketing told Reuters.  

United Breweries plans to manufacture the premium beer from its Taloja plant located near Mumbai.UBL, which signed an agreement in 2009 with Netherlands-based Heineken Group for manufacture and distribution of Heineken beer in India, has already launched it Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.  

Heineken had indirectly acquired a 37.5 percent stake in UBL following its worldwide takeover of Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) in January, 2008.Shares of United Breweries, which have fallen 22 percent compared to a 20 percent fall in the main index since the start of the year, ended 3.54 percent down at 394.1 rupees in a weak Mumbai market on Tuesday.