Booze Battle Brews Incity

While Delhi Excise Dept’S Order Targets Liquor Pilferage & Adulteration, Bar Owners Say Guests Will Get Limited Options, And Ask How Unsold Inventory Is To Be Dumped

- Nayanika Singhal

LIQUOR is a serious business in the National Capital. New Year’s Eve sales alone amount to Rs 30 crore. The figure for a whole year is more than Rs 4,000 crore. No wonder, any major policy change triggers uproar.

The Delhi government’s new order that all booze stocks older than eight days are to be destroyed from August 31 has done just that. The excise department has ‘pegged’ its move at checking pilferage, refilling, bootlegging, adulteration and ensuring goodquality drinks for customers. For instance, often ‘about to expire’ beer is bought in bulk at cheap rates and then served to customers. This might end.

But the hospitality industry is not ‘high’ on it. Hotels, restaurants, pubs, bars and discotheques in areas such as Hauz Khas Village, Khan Market and Connaught Place feel the new time cap will increase corruption and limit premier brand options for guests. They are still trying to figure where and how they will destroy unsold stocks. Many hospitality bodies are already pushing hard for a rollback, saying the move will trigger massive losses. Nothing doing, the excise department has said so far.

THE NEW TIME CAPS