The public will have to wait at least till May to legally purchase internationally best selling liquor and wine in Kerala.
Excise officials said they could amend the liquor rules to facilitate the domestic sale of Foreign Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL) only after the Assembly passed the Finance Bill this month end.
Hence, they would not be able to meet the April 1 deadline for making renowned foreign liquor and wine brands available locally.
However, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the public-owned liquor monopoly, has initiated the purchase process. It has invited original manufacturers owning distillery/winery abroad or their authorised dealers in India having customs bonded warehouse to enter into a rate contract with the Corporation for sale of FMFL and foreign made wine (FMW) for the period from April 1 2018 to March 31 2019.
The last date for submission of e-tender offers is 4 p.m March 22. The Bevco will open the proposals at 10.30 a.m. on March 26. Officials said several top brands had evinced interest. Customers could expect to buy premium liquor brands from ₹2,400 and upwards. The brands would come in bottles ranging from 180 ml to 3.5 litres.
Excise officials said that Bevco had at a stroke removed middlemen from the tendering process. The Corporation would only consider offers submitted through the Kerala government’s e-tender portal.
Cheap liquor
It has also closed the door on the entry of foreign beer and cheap liquor into the domestic market to protect local manufacturers and prevent dumping.
It will only allow the import of liquor with “landed cost” of ₹6,000 and above for a case (9 litres). Bevco officials have sought information from the Customs Department to streamline the tax structure of imported liquor.
The government had allowed the entry of FMFL into Kerala to dismantle the vast grey market for premium brands, much of it illegally diverted from duty-free shops in airports or sourced from the flight crew, regular travellers, and international smuggling rings.
Officials said the sale of legal liquor in Kerala was a whopping ₹195.29 crore during the last Christmas-New Year season. It was impossible to quantify the sale of bootleg liquor during the same period, but it could be sizeable. Bevco has also proposed the opening of premium-brand-only self-service counters in malls to expand its footprint. The Corporation would encourage eco-friendly packaging of branded liquor and discourage plastic bottles.
