Microbreweries in pubs, bars allowed

All hotels and restaurants in Delhi with liquor licence can set up microbreweries, as per the Delhi government’s new excise policy announced on Saturday.

The government also went a little easy on the consumers’ pockets with no hike in excise duty on liquor for the current financial year.

After the green signal to set up of microbreweries, Delhiites will now be able to enjoy fresh beer like people of Gurgaon and Bengaluru. Microbreweries serve small amount of freshly brewed beer and are usually set up in pubs that cater to niche tastes.

“As per the new policy, microbreweries will now be allowed to function at hotels and restaurants on seeking of licence,” the government said.

The decision of the government, however, has irked the BJP. Vijender Gupta, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, alleged that the new liquor policy will allow easy sale of liquor to beer guzzlers, just for the sake of more revenue.

But the government claimed that the policy is aimed at ending the “decades-old inspector raj”.

“The new policy will provide an opportunity for those engaged in lawful business to carry out their professional activities,” a statement issued by the government said.

“Under new excise policy, it has been decided to do away with the present renewal system of excise licences for hotels, clubs and restaurants, and merely on payment of prescribed annual fee, the licences will be allowed to continue functioning,” the statement added.

The excise duty will be collected from the wholesale licence holders at import level itself, which means that excise duty on liquor will be received much before it enters the territorial jurisdiction of Delhi.

The City government claimed that it will prevent the pilferage of excise duty to a large extent.