The Delhi government is considering to reduce the legal age of drinking beer from 25 to 21 so that the neighboring states can be brought equal. Private vendors can also be allowed in this. Under the review of the excise policy, this proposal was discussed in a meeting of ministers, government officials and private liquor vendors. In Noida, Gurugramgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, all types of alcohol drinking are 21 years. Officials say that by making the age of drinking alcohol uniform, the black market and illegal liquor will be stopped and the revenue of the state will also increase.
Violation of alcohol -drinking age law under the Delhi Excise Act 2009 is punishable. The draft of the policy is still being prepared, but government officials said that other major structural amendments were also considered in the first meeting of the High Level Committee held with the people of the liquor industry under the chairmanship of Public Works Minister Pravesh Verma. The committee consists of Industry Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Home Minister Ashish Sood and senior officials of the Excise Department.
In the meeting, a hybrid model was considered for the operation of liquor shops, in which government shops will be mixed with private shops. At present, liquor is sold only at government shops in the national capital Delhi.
Government is also working on premium brand
The previous Aam Aadmi Party government had canceled private licenses in 2022 as its new excise policy had led to controversy due to permission to private retailers and the CBI and ED investigation for alleged irregularities and corruption. Earlier there was a hybrid model, which is now considering bringing back the current BJP government. The committee is also considering ways to streamline the availability of premium national and international liquor brands. Many of these are either not available in Delhi or their supply is less, due to which customers are turning to neighboring states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.