The price of all kinds of liquor will be increased by 20 per cent in Puducherry from Thursday, the Union Territory's excise department has announced on Wednesday.
A few days ago, walk-in experience for customers at alcohol shops, promoting microbreweries and allowing bars in hotels, clubs and restaurants to operate till 3 am were some of the reforms brought in the Delhi government's new excise policy aimed at boosting the city's revenue and also crack down on the liquor mafia.
The Excise Policy 2021-22 that was made public noted that Delhi is ranked the 28th most visited city in the world and the first in India by foreign visitors. It stated that excise is an important source of revenue for the state.
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The policy document, however, does not highlight home delivery of liquor which is part of Excise Rules and legal drinking age that was proposed to be reduced from 25 years to 21 years in parity with neighbouring cities.
Under the new system, the government will be out of retail liquor trade, paving the way for closure of state-run shops and promoting private players in the national capital.
According to the 2021-22 excise policy, every liquor outlet in the city will provide a walk-in experience to its customers who will have multiple choices of brands, and the entire selection and sale process will be completed within the vend premise.
Such retail vends that will be air-conditioned will have glass doors. Customers will not be allowed to crowd outside a vend or in the pavement and buy through the counter, it stated.
Under the new excise system, Delhiites will also be able to fill their bottles or 'growlers' with freshly brewed beer from any microbrewery in the city. The policy allows microbreweries to supply draught beer to bars.
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