Price war brings happy hours for tipplers

INDORE: Evening rush at a local liquor shop these days might give one an impression of a last-minute scramble for tickets of a Hindi blockbuster. Thanks to the price war among the shopkeepers, tipplers could be seen jostling for a bottle or two at a subsidized rate at the counter of a shop. Local distributors in Indore have slashed the rate by about 20 per cent on each bottle.The 180 ml bottle of an IMFL rum, which was costing about Rs 110 till recently, can be bought by shelling out only Rs 90 now.
According to sources, some distributors and retailers in and around Indore wish to get out of the business and clear their stock at the earliest. This has triggered an unprecedented competition and liquor price slash.
"There are four or five such distributors in and around Indore. But their step has forced all the other shop owners to bring down their prices," said one of the popular retail shop owners.
Director of Oasis Distilleries, Trilochan Singh, said, "Also, there is a massive change in the licensee for the next fiscal and hence the existing licensees are involved in the price war in their bid to clear their stock."
"Retailers, who suffered losses during 2013-14 kept themselves away from the bidding process for the license for next fiscal. In their bid to clear existing stocks, they are in a rush to sell their products. They are even ready to compromise on the price falling between minimum support price (MSP) and maximum retail price (MRP)."
A liquor trader in Indore, Monu Bhatia, said, "To survive in the business, we are compelled to sell liquor at MSP, which is normally less by 30%, when compared to MRP."
Five groups are still there that are yet to be awarded licence for sale of liquor in the Indore district for the year 2014-15. They include Bhanpur, Dagachiya, Abhilasha Nagar, Micholi and Machal Kalaria. All those groups, that had quoted their licence fee 20% lower than that of the bidding price of the last year, have already been issued licences for the next fiscal. The remaining five groups will be participating in the next phase of auction which takes place on March 1. Eleven country-made and three Indian made foreign liquor shops are yet to be awarded licence.
Assistant commissioner, state excise, Sanjay Tiwari, said, "We are least bothered about the price at which the liquor is being sold. Our job is only to see if we are receiving collections from the liquor sellers."
Liquor sellers believe that the price war is likely to continue during the next fiscal too, which will ensure stretched happy hours for the tipplers.
A city-based liquor trader, Mukesh Namdeo, said, "It is the ego clash among businessmen, which has resulted in price war."