In its latest development regarding liquor policies, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government has decided to upgrade the liquor shops. Time and again changes in the liquor policies by the state government have impacted the prices of alcohol and related products in Maharashtra. The latest decision of upgrading the liquor shops have been welcomed by various market association including the apex body of the premium alcoholic beverage industry, and the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) in Mumbai.
Now, after the decision of the upgradation, the liquor shops will reportedly fall under two categories—super-premium and elite outlets. While the shops that will come under the super-premium category will have an area of somewhere around 601 square meters, the elite shops’ area is estimated to be between 71 square meters and 600 square meters. Apart from walk-in and self-service facilities, the customers will soon be able to purchase the premium liquor brands from the super-premium shops.
However, the only condition for the super-premium shop is that it reportedly should be 601 square meters and above. As of now, the state has around 45 operational wineries. While 15 and 20 units out of these 45 operational wineries are directly market products, the rest are bulk manufacturers, who supply wines to the bigger wineries.
As per the media report, the wine industry boasts a total turnover of about Rs. 1,000 crore per year, and in this annual turnover, Maharashtra contributes 65 per cent of revenues. About 80 per cent of the country’s wine is produced by Nashik, which locates most wineries. Nashik is followed by Sangli, Pune, Solapur, Buldhana, and Ahmednagar. The report added an industrial official saying that under the new policy for the retail sale, the current annual sale of 70 lakh litres in the state is expected to go up to 1 crore litres.
