You May Soon Be Able To Buy Wine Off-The-Rack At Departmental Stores In Maharashtra *clinks glasses*

Imagine walking into a departmental store near you, heading to the wine section, picking out your fave Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon, heading to the checkout counter and walking out with a bottle (or two) of your fave wine! Well, this dream is soon gonna come true, people.

Soon, you will be able to buy wine off-the-rack at departmental stores in Maharashtra. A new policy is in the pipeline being discussed which will allow sale of wine in retail outlets. The state government is mulling over a new policy which is being proposed which will allow “walk-in stores” to retail wine.
The proposal, if implemented, will end the 20-year tax holiday for wine made in Maharashtra from grapes produced in Maharashtra. There will be a nominal excise duty of 10 per cent on wine.The existing holiday tax on wine is in force till December 2021.

This policy will also provide a boost to the retail sales of wine. Not only departmental stores, but there are also talks to allow private establishments to open up wine bars, where only wine will be sold off the counter. At the moment, only wineries are allowed to open such retail outlets. This will help in creating new marketing channels for wine sales. Despite the holiday tax, the consumption of wine is low as compared to hard liquor, beer, IMFL etc. In 20-21, the wine sales were 700,000 litres. Country liquor was 320 million litres, beer was 30 crore litres and Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) was 200 million litres.

According to a Hindustan Times report, an official said, “Walk-in retailers such as department stores and supermarkets may stock wine in separate wine racks.” Another official said, “At present, the wineries can launch an outlet to sell wine. These licences may be opened up to allow establishments retailing just wine.”

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There are 110 wineries in India, and out of that 72 are in Maharashtra. But out of these 72 only 20 are producing wine, and the rest are into contract manufacturing for larger producers. Most of Maharashtra’s wineries are located in Nashik (known as the Wine Capital of India), Sangli, Pune, Solapur, Buldhana and Ahmednagar. The grapes used for wine making come from Nashik and Sangli districts.

The government will define what classifies as a walk-in store. At present, this category covers an array of retail outlets, which includes grocery shops that go beyond the usual over-the-counter sales.
A notification is likely to come in August, and other aspects of the policy will be declared soon too. Are you excited? Yep! So just like bread or shampoo or chakli, you may soon buy wine too, off the counter.
News Source: Hindustan Times
All images used are for representational purposes.