EXCISE EXCESS

India's laws regulating the alcobev sector vary from state to state, and can confound both distillers and drinkers

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

ANASUYA RAY WAS understandably confused during her induction at AB InBev India, the brewers of Budweiser beer. Coming from the FMCG sector, the 'alcobev' space was entirely new to her. However, the source of her confusion wasn't the brewing process, but a supply chain colleague who kept briefing her on “exporting from here and importing there”.

“I was wondering, 'What is he talking about?' We are just sending goods from Bengaluru to Hyderabad. Where is the export and import happening?” Ray recounted. She eventually learned that alcohol consignments require “export and import passes” just to cross state borders.

“To top it all off, when goods are transferred from one 'country' to another, there is actually an excise official sitting inside that truck to ensure the inter-border transfer happens,” she said. “In this day and age, when we track food through Zomato, we are still dependent on a person rather than GPS tagging? Things need to change!”

Rules do change in India, but rarely in the way manufacturers hope. Every year, on April 1, state excise policies are overhauled. “What happens then? Every label you see on our bottles has to change,” said Ray. “Everything must go for renewal. And every renewal means vast amounts of money, energy and resources being poured into it.”