Liquor Price: Good news for alcohol lovers soon. The central government is planning to reduce prices on several brands soon. Imported from Europe …
Liquor Price: Good news for alcohol lovers soon. The central government is planning to reduce prices on several brands soon. It hopes to reduce the basic customs duty on wines imported from Europe. Because of this many brands of foreign wines are likely to be available at a lower price than they currently are. Recently, a keynote meeting was held between the officials of the Department of Commerce and Industry of the Central Government and the officials of the Central Food Products Manufacturing and Alcoholic Beverages Manufacturers. As part of this, Europe-India decided to conclude a free trade agreement with the European Union. However, as part of the deal, Europe hopes to reduce customs duties on alcohol brands.
If the decision is implemented at low prices ..
At present, the central government imposes a 150 per cent customs duty on foreign alcohol products. The central government intends to limit customs duty to 75 per cent as part of the EU-Indo trade agreement. If this decision is implemented, foreign liquor brands are likely to find prices lower than they are now.
Domestic alcohol companies face difficulties if prices fall:
However, the central government has assured that the reduction of customs duty on foreign alcohol products will not hamper the expansion of the business of domestic alcohol production companies. Speaking on the occasion, Vinod Giri, Director General, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverages, said, “Compared to India, the cost of manufacturing alcohol products in Europe is 50 per cent lower. Under these circumstances, he said, domestic liquor companies would face difficulties if the customs tariff was reduced beyond the limit.
According to CIABC, India imports Rs 1,850 crore worth of wine a year from Europe. India exports only Rs 160 crore worth of wine to Europe. The annual turnover of domestic alcohol products in India is Rs 4.5 lakh crore.
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