Why Delhi's liquor consumers are crossing state borders for getting drunk
Margins cap keeps premium bottles off the shelves
Brand‑pushing curbs competition
Licence fees favour imported spirits
Live Events
You Might Also Like:
How UP's liquor lottery system helped Yogi govt double revenue to Rs 50,000 crore in six years
Few shops, huge gaps
Committee drafts new rules
What comes next
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
Over the past three years, many Delhi residents who enjoy an occasional drink have begun travelling to nearby Gurgaon, Faridabad or Noida for their preferred whiskies, beers and wines. They say the neighbouring states offer lower prices, wider choice and a more comfortable shopping experience than the capital's cramped government‑run outlets. Industry officials warn that the continued exodus is costing Delhi an estimated ₹1,300–1,500 crore in lost tax revenue each year, prompting the administration to draft a fresh excise policy before the current rules lapse on 30 June 2025, a TOI report stated.Until November 2021, Delhi's liquor trade was split between about 375 private shops and nearly 475 stores run by four state corporations. A short‑lived 2021 excise overhaul briefly privatised the business, but the government withdrew it and reverted to the old framework, handing retail back to the corporations. An industry insider said, 'The govt‑run retail structure reduces competition and limits brand availability. This restricts consumer choice, as retailers promote select products instead of offering a diverse range.'A senior Delhi official acknowledged that the four corporations 'monopolised' store space. A fixed retail margin—₹50 on India‑made foreign liquor (IMFL) and ₹100 on imported labels—encourages shops to stock cheaper bottles priced between ₹400 and ₹600. 'Instead of stocking premium brands that move slowly, the retailers thus keep cheaper brands in a price range of Rs 400–600, which sell faster,' the official said.The excise department's own study shows Delhi's ten top‑selling brands differ markedly from buyers' choices elsewhere. An official noted: 'This also results in the consumer shifting to neighbouring states, leading to suboptimal sales and consequently, revenue loss to the govt. The menace of brand‑pushing not only disregards actual consumer preferences but also undermines fair market competition. It creates an opaque system where certain brands dominate not due to quality or popularity but because of alleged malpractices.'Domestic producers say the fee structure is tilted against them. Anant Iyer, director general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, pointed out that IMFL whisky brands pay ₹25 lakh each, while importers pay ₹15 lakh for a bundle of five products. 'Some of the prominent single malts are not available in Delhi because the companies decided not to sell here due to discriminatory licence fees. Let there be a level playing field and healthy competition,' Iyer said.Delhi lists 762 licensed outlets, but only 603 operate, giving the city a retail density of 2.7 shops per lakh people—about half the national average. Large unauthorised colonies remain unserved, encouraging smuggling from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Rules bar stores from opening in non‑conforming areas, and officials peg the annual revenue loss from this gap at up to ₹1,500 crore.A committee led by the chief secretary is preparing a policy that officials say will 'make sale and distribution of liquor in the city transparent and accountable.' One official added, 'We are in the process of making certain changes in our policy.' Sanjit Padhi, chief executive of the International Spirits and Wines Association of India, welcomed the move: 'We believe that with a progressive retail policy, the state can provide its consumers not only brand choice but also a retail infrastructure that would be comparable to its neighbouring states in terms of buying experience and choice of leading brands. This would also lead to enhanced revenue, as consumers do not have to travel to neighbouring cities for their favourite brands.'The excise department has extended the 2024–25 rules until 30 June 2025. Market players expect the revised framework to tackle licence‑fee disparities, allow private retailers back in and expand store density. Until then, many shoppers are likely to keep crossing state lines for their weekend bottles—along with the taxes that go with them.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
28 minutes ago
- India.com
Vietnam's VinFast Enters India with First EV Showroom In Gujarat, Plans 35 Outlets By Year-End
New Delhi: Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast on Sunday opened its first showroom in India at Gujarat's Surat as the company looks to tap the growing market for electric cars in the country. The showroom will showcase the company's electric SUV variants VF 6 and VF 7, which will be launched as right-hand drive variants for the first time. "The vehicles will be locally assembled at VinFast's upcoming factory at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu, reinforcing the company's long-term commitment to India as a strategic market and future hub for electric vehicle production," a VinFast statement said. VinFast plans to open 35 dealerships across over 27 cities in the country by the year-end. Vehicles will be assembled at its upcoming manufacturing facility in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. Vietnamese EV giant VinFast opens First Indian Showroom in Surat,Gujrat. Aims 35 Showrooms across India By 2025 end. — Indian Infra Report (@Indianinfoguide) July 27, 2025 Located in Surat's Piplod area, the showroom will showcase the brand's upcoming premium electric SUVs – the VF 6 and VF 7 – for which pre-bookings opened on July 15. Customers can reserve their vehicle at showroom their vehicle at showrooms or online through with a fully refundable deposit of Rs 21,000, the statement said. VinFast Asia CEO Pham Sanh Chau said: "The first VinFast Showroom in Surat is a symbol of our deep commitment to India. We are excited to bring the VinFast experience closer to Indian consumers. With this dealership in Gujarat, we aim to offer not just electric vehicles, but a complete ownership journey built on quality trust and service excellence.' The Vietnamese EV maker has formed partnerships with RoadGrid, myTVS, and Global Assure to provide charging and after-sales services across India. The company has also joined hands with BatX Energies to promote battery recycling and establish a circular battery value chain, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable innovation. Earlier this month, the Elon Musk-run Tesla launched its Model Y in India, at prices starting at Rs 59.89 lakh, with its first showroom in Mumbai. Tesla will be importing the Model Y as a completely built unit (CBU) from its manufacturing facility in Shanghai in China.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
BSL township residents to pay more for power
Bokaro: The Jharkhand State Electricity Regulatory Commission hiked electricity charges by five paise per unit for domestic LT and HT consumers in the Bokaro Steel Township, after seven years. "This increase will affect BSL quarter residents, while plot holders and other categories like Commercial, Agricultural, and Streetlight services will see no change," said Manikant Dhan, chief of communication, BSL. Sources said Bokaro Steel Plant is expected to generate an additional Rs 30 lakh annually due to this revision. The hike comes after a public hearing held last month, where the management proposed the tariff revision. Citizens, however, strongly opposed it. TNN "Instead of burdening honest consumers, stop rampant power theft by illegal occupants," said one attendee during last month's public hearing. Another added, "Let BSL plug the leaks before raising rates."
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
MEA ‘nearly lost the plot' on Indus Treaty negotiations, says former Finance Secretary Subhash Garg
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) nearly 'lost the plot' over the Indus Water Treaty talks with Pakistan in 2016, as senior MEA officials entered into a tussle with the World Bank, before the issue was retrieved — the claim is made by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, India-appointed Executive Director at the World Bank (2014-2017), in his latest book, which recounts for the first time the tensions between the Modi government and World Bank President Jim Kim over the Kishenganga hydropower project. The point of contention was whether the World Bank, which has a limited role in guiding any disputes or differences between India and Pakistan, would decide to appoint the 'court of arbitration' Pakistan had asked for, or a 'neutral expert', as India wanted. After his controversial first book about his unceremonious exit from the Union Finance Ministry, Mr. Garg has now taken aim at the MEA in his new book, No, Minister: Navigating Power, Politics and Bureaucracy with a Steely Resolve, where he says he was sidelined during the initial stages of the Indus Water Treaty negotiations in 2016. He also claims that he was told to 'keep off the matter', and only attend meetings to be led by India's Deputy Chief of Mission Taranjit Sandhu (later the Ambassador to the U.S. before he retired and joined politics). '[However], by the middle of November, the MEA team was getting nervous. It was not able to nudge the World Bank team in the direction it wanted, i.e., to appoint a neutral expert and began to sense that the Bank was tilting towards Pakistan,' Mr. Garg wrote, in the chapter titled 'Bringing Indus Waters Arbitration Back From the Brink'. At this point, the book claims that Mr. Jaishankar made a visit to Washington and asked Mr. Garg to take charge of matters. Mr. Garg accepted the request, but insisted that no MEA official join the discussions, and even turned back then MEA Joint Secretary Gopal Baglay (now India's High Commissioner to Australia) from the meeting with Mr. Kim, although he had travelled non-stop for 20 hours to reach Washington. According to Mr. Garg, it was his own intervention, in a one-on-one meeting with Mr. Kim, that eventually helped ensure a neutral expert, Ian Solomon, was appointed, after the World Bank accepted Pakistan's demand for a court of arbitration at The Hague. The MEA did not respond to a request for comments on Mr. Garg's claims. The Hindu also reached out to Mr. Sandhu and Mr. Baglay for a comment, and they did not respond to or deny the claims. In Washington, World Bank officials privy to the negotiations confirmed the tussle between the World Bank and the Indian government, but said they could not comment on whether it was Mr. Garg's meeting with the World Bank chief or other interventions that eventually changed the course of events. The World Bank first ruled that having a neutral expert and court together could lead to 'contradictory outcomes'. However, subsequently, it facilitated the setting up of both an expert as well as a Chairperson to the Court of Arbitration. India has refused to attend the proceedings in the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. Pakistan has maintained that it is working within the terms of the treaty, whereas India says the treaty does not allow such parallel dispute mechanisms. When asked by The Hindu, Mr. Garg said this should not have been an 'institutional turf battle', and that he did not want India's case to be 'compromised' even as the World Bank, the U.S. and the U.K. had gone ahead with appointing experts to take the Pakistan application for arbitration forward. Allowing Pakistan's diplomats to continue the process unchallenged would have an impact on other negotiations, he added. After the Pahalgam terror attacks in April this year, India has decided to 'suspend' the Indus Water Treaty, but some of the book's revelations are significant for future decisions on similar issues. The book recounts Pakistan's campaign against the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects in Jammu-Kashmir; India's objections to the International Monetary Fund/World Bank funding of the Gulpur hydropower project in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir; and China's objections in 2010 to multilateral funding for a hydropower project in Arunachal Pradesh, leading Mr. Garg to conclude that the government and the World Bank needed better communication between themselves. Mr. Garg also pointed out that Mr. Kim and Mr. Modi had a good relationship, and Mr. Kim's plan to fund schemes for 'stunted' or malnourished children had not gone down well with Mr. Modi. In Parliament this week, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development said that about 37% of children under five years registered on their tracker were found to be stunted. 'I believe India's approach of not fine-tuning its stance in line with World Bank policies has harmed its own interests more than serving it,' Mr. Garg, who moved to India as Economic Affairs Secretary after his tenure at the World Bank ended, said. Differences with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led to his transfer as Secretary in the Union Ministry of Power in August 2019. He applied for voluntary retirement that same day, and retired after serving the mandatory notice period on October 31, 2019. (With inputs from Jacob Koshy and T.C.A. Sharad Raghavan in New Delhi.)
