The Arvind Kejriwal Government is likely to allow microbreweries at the five-star hotels in the national Capital. Once operational, Delhiites would be able to consume fresh-off-the-tap inhouse brewed beer in different flavours. The Government was also in the process of relaxing complex procedures for grant of P-10 and P-13 permits for serving liquor in parties through an automated system. The Government may announce allowing of microbreweries at the five-star hotels in its excise policy, which is to be announced by next month.
Top sources said that Excise Department had recently made a detailed presentation to Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia about a series of measures that it intends to introduce to help people to get their liquor permits without facing any hassles at their respective workplaces. Even for the annual renewal of liquor licenses, the restaurant-bars would no longer have to follow lengthy procedures as they would be granted licenses by simply producing self-attested documents.
The source said that the microbreweries, better known in commercial format as brewpubs, would be first allowed to function in five-star hotels. “If the experiment works, then the same would be allowed in other restobars in the city.” The microbreweries produce between 5,000 and 50,000 litres of beer per day. None of it is bottled and there are no preservatives added in the process. A senior officer said that once microbreweries are allowed to function, people would be able to consume fresh beer.
At present, sale of only bottled beer is allowed in the city. When the bottled beer finally gets to the consumer, it could be as old as four months and may have faced fluctuating temperatures, poor storage and transportation. Mass produced beer is often treated with glycerine as a preservative to stretch its shelf-life for up to six months, but the product suffers in the bargain. It is only in India that bottled beer is chilled before consumption.
The Government is also planning to ease procedures for procuring P-10 and P-13 permits for the sale of liquor in parties and other functions. At present, P-10 permit can be obtained on payment of Rs5,000 for service of liquor in any party, function or marriage at any specific premise, excluding public places like parks. Also, P-13 permit is granted to licenced hotels, restaurants and pubs for service of foreign liquor inside/outside their premises on a temporary basis for hosting a function on a specific day. Any eligible party can apply for P-13 permit after depositing Rs5,000 fee.
The source said there were plans to grant both P-10 and P-13 permits on conditional basis through an automated online system. “As of now, many people have to suffer to get these permits on weekends. Once automated system is in place, these permits will be easily available for one and all.” The Government was also in the process of doing away with the complex procedure to get the renewal of the annual liquor licenses to restaurant bars in the city. “Every year, they have to submit all sorts of documents. Now, they can submit self-attested documents. If there are any violations, we can easily cancel their licenses as their original documents of the fire safety and other clearances are already with us,” a senior official told The Pioneer. “For personal functions where no entertainment tax is charged, we will be issuing no-objection certificates through online automated system.”