Shinde govt to mull over wine sale in supermarkets

The government has received 12,000 responses of which 7,500 are in favour of the draft policy, and 4,500 are against the move

Mumbai The erstwhile Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s controversial decision to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets for ‘off-consumption’ may make a comeback under the Eknath Shinde regime.

In January, the state cabinet had allowed supermarkets and walk-in stores to retail wine in sealed bottles for ‘off-consumption’ as per the ‘shelf-in-shop’ concept (PTI)

Shambhuraj Desai, minister for state excise, said he would study the responses from the people after the draft policy was thrown open for their suggestions and objections. “I have asked the department to prepare details of how many people are in favour, against or neutral… we will brief the chief minister and deputy chief minister and then approach the state cabinet,” he added.

The government has received 12,000 responses of which 7,500 are in favour of the draft policy, and 4,500 are against the move.

In January, the state cabinet had allowed supermarkets and walk-in stores to retail wine in sealed bottles for ‘off-consumption’ as per the ‘shelf-in-shop’ concept. This led to protests from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also from sobriety activists, with Gandhian and social worker Anna Hazare threatening a fast. Hazare, however, withdrew his decision after parleys with the state government.

“If this (policy) is in favour of the state, in favour of the farmers and will help horticulturists get a better price, then our colleagues from the BJP may not oppose it,” said Desai, who was incidentally minister of state for the state excise department in the MVA government. He urged grape farmers to come together and launch wineries of their own.

The policy will cover supermarkets and walk-in stores with a minimum area of 100 square meters. It will not apply to shops, which are involved in over-the-counter (OTC) sales. These establishments must be registered under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017, which means they must have a minimum 10 workers.

Despite the controversy over allowing stores to retail wine, officials said that the actual number of licences granted under the new policy will be much lower than speculated. The state government’s figures say that only 600 such establishments in Maharashtra will be eligible for the new licence due to the conditions involved. Some of them may be disqualified under the conditions laid down in the draft rules and translate into fewer licenses being applied for and granted.

Of the around 83 crore litres of liquor that was sold in Maharashtra in the previous financial year, wine does not account for even 1 crore litre. In 2020-21, country liquor (32 crore litres) topped the consumption chart followed by beer (30 crore litres) and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) (20 crore litres). Wine sales were just around 70 lakh litres.