Bira 91 in trouble? 250 employees seek removal of founder Ankur Jain, allege salaries due for 6 months: Key points

Hundreds of employees at B9 Beverages, the maker of the popular Bira 91 craft beer, have approached the company's board seeking change in the leadership, The Economic Times reported.

As per the report, over 250 employees have approached the board and top investors including Japanese beverage company Kirin Holdings and Peak XV Partners. The employees have also sought the ouster of founder Ankur Jain from his management role.

The demand, written in a petition, was also reportedly directed to the largest lender of B9 Beverages, Anicut Capital. It was sent shortly after a company townhall in September.

A query from Livemint has not been answered yet by the company.

Ankur Jain and his family held a 17.8% stake in Bira 91 as of June 2025, as per the report. Kirin Holdings is the largest stakeholder with a 20.1% share.

Why do Bira 91 employees want leadership change?

According to the ET report, the petition signed by the employees listed “corporate governance failure, lack of transparency, delays in employee dues and salaries” as their reason to request for the leadership change.

B9 Beverages employees further alleged that cases filed by creditors were “showing deteriorating financials”, while the company had several pending payments to vendors, citing these reasons for their demand.

As per a person in the know quoted by ET said almost all Bira 91 employees have backed this petition.

Salaries halted, TDS not deposited

Several employees cited by ET said that their salaries have not been credited to their accounts for six months, while there are also reimbursements pending since November 2024.

As many as 50 employees alleged that B9 Beverages had not deposited their TDS for the past financial year, while the same for all employees have not been deposited this year.

One of the employees said that the last PF contribution was made in March 2024.

The salaries and reimbursements of 500 employees are pending, and amount to around ₹50 crore, another employee told the newspaper. There have also been multiple layoffs and exits.

B9 Beverages currently has 260 employees, down from 700 last year, the report mentioned.

Ankur Jain, acknowledging the salary payment allegation, said, “It is true that we have employee overdue that have been persisting. These range between 3 and 5 months, depending on the level of employees, and include a delay in payments of tax dues as well.”

Bira 91 founder reacts

Speaking to ET, Bira 91 founder Ankur Jain said the company “is not aware of any such petition addressed to key shareholders”, adding that the board has also not received such a communication.

Jain further said that there was a production ‘pause’ in September, and he believes it would resume this month.

He said there were “significant business disruptions” at B9 Beverages over the last 18 months, including a company name change, changes in liquor policy and a delay in the fundraising process.

“These resulted in volume degrowth in FY25, complete disruption of the company's business and cash flow for several months and a pileup of overdues including statutory dues, employee dues and vendor dues,” he said.