Left High and Dry
Court order banning alcohol sales along national highways and clamour for prohibition in various states has the domestic liquor and hospitality industry in a tizzy.
- May 13, 2017,
- Updated May 17, 2017 1:41 PM IST
A group of bar and restaurant owners in Gurgaon's upscale Cyber Hub raised a quiet toast together on the evening of May 4. Earlier in the day, the excise department of Gurgaon lifted the 35-day ban on sale of liquor in 32 of the 36 pubs, bars and restaurants in the complex after various entry and exit points were tweaked to meet the Supreme Court guidelines. The apex court had on April 1 imposed a ban on sale of liquor within 500 metre of any highway in the country.
The toast was more out of relief than anything else. Cyber Hub, which has become the go-to hangout place in the Delhi-NCR region in the last two years, is located bang on National Highway 8 that connects Delhi to Jaipur. Most shops in the complex, including those not serving alcohol and hence not directly impacted by the ban, suffered a 30-50 per cent drop in business over the last one month as footfalls declined sharply. The crowds should be back now.
"The crowd is thin today as people don't know. But the weekend begins tomorrow and we will tell the world we are back in business,"says Ashish Dev Kapur of The Wine Company. Other pubs, bars and liquor shops around the country may not be as lucky. The order is estimated to have impacted nearly 42 per cent, or 26,800 liquor shops and vends in India. Even hotels and restaurants around the highways are suffering. According to research agency CRISIL, it has affected at least 25-30 per cent of premium hotels located along the main highways in the country's top 12 cities. These are only conservative estimates. The impact on the country's domestic liquor industry as also state governments, which rely heavily on excise from sale of alcohol for revenue, will be substantial.
"Tourism creates jobs. Why kill it?," tweeted Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog. "Supreme Court's highway liquor ban verdict may hit one million jobs."
A group of bar and restaurant owners in Gurgaon's upscale Cyber Hub raised a quiet toast together on the evening of May 4. Earlier in the day, the excise department of Gurgaon lifted the 35-day ban on sale of liquor in 32 of the 36 pubs, bars and restaurants in the complex after various entry and exit points were tweaked to meet the Supreme Court guidelines. The apex court had on April 1 imposed a ban on sale of liquor within 500 metre of any highway in the country.
The toast was more out of relief than anything else. Cyber Hub, which has become the go-to hangout place in the Delhi-NCR region in the last two years, is located bang on National Highway 8 that connects Delhi to Jaipur. Most shops in the complex, including those not serving alcohol and hence not directly impacted by the ban, suffered a 30-50 per cent drop in business over the last one month as footfalls declined sharply. The crowds should be back now.
"The crowd is thin today as people don't know. But the weekend begins tomorrow and we will tell the world we are back in business,"says Ashish Dev Kapur of The Wine Company. Other pubs, bars and liquor shops around the country may not be as lucky. The order is estimated to have impacted nearly 42 per cent, or 26,800 liquor shops and vends in India. Even hotels and restaurants around the highways are suffering. According to research agency CRISIL, it has affected at least 25-30 per cent of premium hotels located along the main highways in the country's top 12 cities. These are only conservative estimates. The impact on the country's domestic liquor industry as also state governments, which rely heavily on excise from sale of alcohol for revenue, will be substantial.
"Tourism creates jobs. Why kill it?," tweeted Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog. "Supreme Court's highway liquor ban verdict may hit one million jobs."