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For over 45 years the London Pilsner (LP) Brewery building stood out as an iconic landmark on the Sion-Panvel highway that many south Bombay residents traversed while proceeding to the Western Ghats resorts of Lonavla and Mahabaleshwar. But now the dilapidated factory structure in the heart of a valuable, commercial district is to be torn down, stated The Times of India (TOI) of March 22, 2021. LP was founded by property developer, race horse owner and president of the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman (IZA), Noshir Muluk Irani in the mid-1970s.
"There were no buildings around then,” his daughter Zinia Lawyer told TOI. "When you look at the LP area now, so much has changed.”
Builder Suresh Patel, told TOI, "We recently purchased the 24,000 sq m LP factory site which will be developed as a commercial business hub because of its prime location.”
When reminded about the historical significance of Associated Breweries & Distilleries Ltd (ABD), New Bombay’s first large-scale brewery that made LP, Patel added, "History is certainly a big part of this place… perhaps, we can install a plaque at the site to inform the visitors about its origin.”
The senior vice president of the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (New Bombay) Manohar Shroff told TOI, "Everything must change with time. The brewery that had employed many factory hands will now make way for a commercial tower that will facilitate hundreds of executives and other staff.”
Real estate broker Harish Sethi said, "I remember the popularity of LP beer in the late ’70s and early ’80s. But nothing lasts forever and change is the only constant,” the daily reported.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An obituary in the Institute of Brewing journal, volume 91, 1985, noted, "Noshir Muluk Irani was a self-made man who started as an engineer and, after a few years with the government departments in India, branched out and started a construction business. In a matter of 10 years he became one of the leading builders in Bombay, specializing in pile driving, building of high rise flats and offices, and opening up industries allied to this particular trade. In 1968, he decided to diversify and start a brewery in Goa, which was not very successful. This lack of success was mainly due to the fact that he was new in the business and he did not have proper qualified and experienced technicians to help him in this venture. In spite of the failure of the brewery, in 1975 he opened another brewery in Bombay itself, since he felt that the market for beer in Bombay was tremendous.
"Initially, his efforts in Bombay were daunted due to the giants in Indian brewing industries with their network of breweries as well as other products like whisky, gin and brandy, who were able to keep out similar breweries, particularly ownership ones like the one started by Irani.
"London Diet and London Premium are household words in the western Indian market. It was his brewery that introduced the Diet beer concept in India, as well as the Draught Beer concept. Apart from this, he was the District Grand Master of the District Grand Lodge of Western India.”
Following his death on January 30, 1985 at the age of 61 the IZA noted in a resolution, "He served the Anjuman in one capacity or the other for a period extending 14 years. His qualities of head and heart had endeared him among the members (see "Iranian Anjuman president,” In Memoriam, Parsiana, March 1985).”
A keen horse racer, Irani owned 24 horses of which one won the 1,000 Guineas race and another the Indian Derby.
Wife Mehroo Irani, daughters Lawyer and Bakhtawar Chenoy "shared the responsibility of the business that Noshirwan, the man of the house, thrust on them when he passed away in 1985,” noted an article in Upper Crust (April-June 2000), the food quarterly. "He was a man of great vision and an extraordinary builder. (Several of) the old buildings in South Bombay were built by Noshirwan in the ’50s and ’60s and named after his wife and daughters. Then recognizing the potential for a good quality beer in the ’70s, he started ABD in 1975 at a factory in Thana and introduced LP. Mehroo, Zinia and Bakhtawar took over the management of ABD Ltd after his death.
"People thought we would sell out, that we would not know how to run a liquor business, and a lot of feelers came our way,” recalls Mehroo. "But I said no. I gave my daughters courage. I said all three of us would run the business. So what if we did not know the head or tail of it? So what if it was to do with liquor? We started by going to the factory at Thana and working from there.”
ABD was later sold to United Breweries.