Wine expected to be available in supermarkets later this year

If you are planning to walk into your nearest supermarket to grab a bottle of wine, you will have to wait a bit longer

If you are planning to walk into your nearest supermarket to grab a bottle of wine, you will have to wait a bit longer.

Representational image

More than two months after the state cabinet allowed supermarkets and walk-in stores to retail wine in sealed bottles for ‘off-consumption’ as per the ‘shelf-in-shop’ concept, the government has finally published the draft rules.

However, the period for people to submit their suggestions and objections to the Special Permit and Licenses (Amendment) Rules, 2022, has been fixed for 90 days, which will end on June 29. Then, the suggestions and objections will be processed and the rules will be finalised.

Though sources said it was not possible to specify the time, the process is expected to be completed in around one-and-a-half to two months.

“There is no time frame laid down in the act for submitting suggestions and objections to such rules. The convention is to allow a reasonable period, which is normally around 15 days. However, we have given a 90-day period for these rules so that stakeholders do not complain that they did not have sufficient time to read and respond,” a senior state excise department official said. The time taken to finalise the rules would depend on the volume of responses.

The government decision in January permitting supermarkets to retail wine sparked protests from the Bharatiya Janata Party 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.

Another official said allowing a longer period for submission of suggestions on the draft rules had come up during a discussion with Hazare.

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

The policy will cover supermarkets and walk-in stores having a minimum area of 100 square metres and walk-in stores with a self-service facility. It will not apply to shops, which are involved in over-the-counter 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 minimum 10 workers. A separate and lockable rack or shelf of up to 2.25 cubic metres in volume must be used to store and retail wine and this must not be situated at the entrance or the front side of the store and not be visible to passers-by.

To be eligible for the new licence, these shops must not be located within a distance of 50 metres from any educational or religious institution or any statue of national personality in the jurisdiction of municipal corporation or ‘A’ or ‘B’ class municipal council. This distance norm is 100 metres in other areas. These establishments must be over 100 metres away from any bus stand, station or depot of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation.

“The government has taken a progressive decision [by allowing supermarkets to sell wine]… it will help both consumers and farmers,” Jagdish Holkar, president, All India Wine Producers Association, said.

He said this would create an alternative marketing channel for wine as the number of such shops was limited (1,680) and they hesitated to sell wine, especially the smaller brands. Holkar, however, said the conditions laid down by the state government would prevent wine from being retailed widely.

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