New Delhi: The Delhi excise department has begun opening liquor shops on metro station premises in order to increase sales due to high footfall, according to officials quoted by news agency PTI. More than six liquor vending machines have been installed on the premises of the Badarpur, Dwarka, Karol Bagh, Rajouri Garden, and Mundka metro stations.
According to news agency PTI, a senior Excise Department official stated that government undertakings are approaching the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for permission to open liquor stores at other stations.
According to the official, metro stations have a high footfall, which is a big factor in ensuring more access to liquor products and thus more revenue. The DMRC has also granted the Delhi Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS) permission to open liquor stores at a number of metro stations.
Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC), and DCCWS are the four Delhi government undertakings that must open 500 liquor vends across the city by September. By the end of the year, they plan to open 200 more stores in the nation’s capital.
According to Excise Department officials, metro stations offer a good opportunity for better sales due to space availability and high footfall; as a result, the DMRC will soon grant permission to other corporations to open liquor stores on metro premises.
According to PTI, the department has already issued around 450 licences to the four corporations, and over 350 liquor stores operated by these four agencies are currently operating in the city.
The Delhi government withdrew its Excise Policy 2021-22 in July this year after LG VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into its alleged irregularities, reverting to the old excise regime that was in place prior to November 17, 2021.
Meanwhile, officials said that liquor will not be available at IGI’s domestic terminals in the near future because the Delhi government agency assigned to run the vends there has yet to find space for them.
According to the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), which has been assigned the job, they are still looking for space to open six vending machines.
According to officials, the duty-free liquor stores in the airport’s international terminal are operating normally because they are not subject to excise.
Even after the excise policy 2021-22 was implemented in November last year, the airport zone faced problems because the licensee was only able to open six of the ten shops there by February 2012-22.
