As many as 350 liquor stores have opened to the public since September 1, when the 2020-21 excise policy went into effect.
Currently, the national capital has 566 liquor stores and the city sees the sale of 1.2 to 1.3 million bottles every day.
Liquor stores in Delhi are operated by the city government under four separate agencies: Delhi State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC), Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS) and Delhi State Civilian Supplies Corporation Limited (DSCSC).
All liquor stores are located in busy market squares. The selection to open a liquor store is made based on several factors: footfall, parking space, transportation, space availability so that the presence of buyers does not cause traffic congestion, store visibility, rent, and distance of 100 meters from places religious. , educational institutions and hospitals.
While Delhi excise department had planned to open 700 stores, but based on the above mentioned factors, the city government is taking longer to open the stores.
Delhi’s 2021-22 excise policy was aimed at replacing a turnover-based regime with a license fee for traders. However, the plan did not work after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the regime.
The policy was then prematurely removed and replaced by the previous 2020-21 regime, with all private liquor sales forced from the market.
However, an official from Delhi’s excise department said that they may propose to include private players in Delhi’s liquor space.
Vinod Giri, CEO of the Confederation of Indian Spirits Companies (CIABC), said that there were more than 800 liquor stores in 2020 and today they are down to 566. The low number of sales has affected customer experience. For this reason, they have decided to expand the stores in other parts of the city.