(NYDailyNews) - More Indian women are starting to drink outside their home, as female-friendly bars are gaining social acceptance. Drink makers in the country are even aiming advertising efforts at women, creating bottles with pastel labels and lower alcohol content. Women who drink, long portrayed as less than respectable by Bollywood movies and still wary of entering most watering holes, are becoming big business in socially conservative India.

Makers of alcoholic beverages, including global No.1 Diageo, are taking notice of this small segment of India's $10 billion drinks industry that is growing more than twice as fast as the overall sector and presents a significant, if delicate, market opportunity.