 "micro-breweries, beer")
Delhi is facing a beer shortage as most popular brands remain unavailable at alcohol shops. As summer approaches, beer lovers are looking for chilled bottles of their favourite beer brands, but liquor vendors are returning customers empty-handed.
Customers in different parts of the city have raised the shortage issue with the vendors. So far, officials refuted the complaints about popular brands missing from the shelves but admitted that corporations have placed tenders for refrigerators and chillers, which will be available at the shops soon.
As per the current arrangement under the excise regime in Delhi, four undertakings of the Delhi government, DSIIDC, DTTDC, DSCSC, and DCCWS, are engaged in retail liquor sale through more than 550 stores across the city.
An unhappy customer said, "They are offering brands whose names I am hearing for the first time. None of my two-three favourite ones are available."
Another customer in Laxmi Nagar complained that vendors were selling chilled beer. He said, "I used to pick up a couple of bottles and drink them after reaching home. Now, they are selling beer at room temperature."
People working at the retail shops accepted that there was a dearth of refrigeration facilities, and hence, many of the customers were returning empty-handed.
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Vinod Giri, director general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, said consumers in Delhi drink nearly 15 crore bottles of beer every year. The demand is skewed towards the three months of summer, which account for nearly six crore bottles, he said.
Liquor shops in Delhi have limited stocking space, and fewer shops in the city naturally mean a lower total stock holding. As per the latest rules, all liquor shops are owned by the government, and some companies are hesitant to supply government-owned shops due to compliance-related concerns, Giri added.
(With agency inputs)
