A simple post on X (formerly Twitter) has reignited debate over India's startup environment — and how a single procedural lapse can upend a billion-rupee brand.
Earlier this week, finance commentator @dmuthuk shared that Bira 91, once India's most celebrated craft beer brand, had allegedly fallen apart after a simple name change. The tweet claimed that when Bira's parent company changed its name from B9 Beverages Private Limited to B9 Beverages Limited — dropping the word 'Private' — it triggered a cascade of regulatory chaos.
"All the states immediately banned the sale of Bira 91 treating the new name as a different entity," @dmuthuk wrote, adding that the company faced demands for new licenses, label approvals, and product registrations across the country.
The post quickly went viral, with readers linking the issue to India's ease of doing business claims and complex compliance procedures. Some argued that such bureaucratic rigidity exposes the "hot air" behind the government's reforms, while others mocked "Business Facilitation Centres" as mere façades of support in a system built to control, not enable.
However, the narrative took a twist.
Tax and finance expert @AjayRotti stepped in with a detailed counterpoint, calling it "phenomenal PR" that media houses ran with the story without basic checks.
"The name change happened in September 2023 — maybe even earlier. The company has been struggling for years with losses, unpaid salaries, TDS and PF defaults," he wrote.
"This isn't just about red tape. It's a governance issue — employees themselves wrote to the Board asking for management change."
Rotti's fact-check was supported by Varuni Khosla of Livemint, who cited their February report titled "Craft beer maker Bira in tax soup amid vendor payment and salary delays".
Several users echoed this view — that while India's compliance system is indeed messy, Bira's downfall wasn't triggered overnight by paperwork. Long-standing financial mismanagement and leadership issues were already brewing under the surface.
"Bira's still on shelves," one user noted, "but the buzz is missing. Once the darling of every party fridge, it's now quietly chilling in the corner."
The larger lesson
Bira's story — whether a victim of bureaucracy, bad governance, or both — underscores a deeper truth about doing business in India: compliance and credibility must go hand in hand.
As one reader aptly put it:
"What you assume need not work in reality — and may even go against you."
A sobering reminder that in India's startup ecosystem, a small procedural oversight can cost more than just market share — it can cost survival itself.
