The Excise Department’s move to promote Delhi Medium liquor (DMl) to replace country liquor seems to have flopped as vendors show little interest in renewing licences. The patronage has been appalling; dealers are not interested in booking bulk orders of the brand since the existing stock has not been exhausted as yet. The DMl, which was launched in year 2012 by the previous Congress Government in the Capital with an aim to replace country liquor considered more hazardous to health, is not available at most liquor shops. lack of publicity of this initiative is leading to a steep decline in its sale and uncertainty looms large over its production.
To make it affordable, the brand was priced at Rs 80 as against country liquor, which has an average price of Rs 70. It was later revised from Rs 90 to Rs 100 per quart in the year 2013. The DMl is being sold through all 104 vends of Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC) and Delhi Consumer’s Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS) across the city.
Top sources told The Pioneer those licencees are not taking any interest in renewal of DMl licences. Due to lack of publicity and political uncertainty, the department has failed to promote it properly. Two years after being introduced in the market, publicity through advertisements never picked up steam and kept
consumers hooked to cheap countrymade hooch.
“The DMl is hardly known to a majority of consumers of the local brand. The other cheap brands have fancy names and are more popular and is one of the major reasons behind DMl’s low sales,” an official said. Due to DMl, the procurement of country liquor has reduced to 300 lakh litres instead of 550 lakh litres for the year 2012-13. For the past two years, the sale of country liquor has declined.
“Advertisements are a part of policy making and require finance. The new government can only take care of the project. Currently the project is going on but the production has not increased,” an official added. The ‘Delhi Medium liquor’ was launched in year 2012 by the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit Government with the aim to replace the local liquor brands known to have adverse effects on health.
Delhi had become the first State of northern India to launch such liquor with a 60 degree proof. “The country made local liquors more harmful to health. The Government had initiated the project to produce liquor with a strict quality control to replace the existing cheap liquor at a nominal price,” said officials.
Country liquor has already been taken off the shelves in the markets of southern States like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the consumers are being provided better quality Indian liquor.