TN mulls microbreweries to boost excise revenue

A senior official from Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) on Tuesday said the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise grants privilege and licence for the manufacture of beer. A draft proposal has been initiated for approval from the government. 

At present, Puducherry has permission to open microbreweries. Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab and West Bengal already have such establishments. 

The official said before submitting the draft to the government, the Excise Department official will undertake a survey in other states already having microbreweries. “The proposal is expected to be implemented carefully after taking suggestions from all stakeholders,” he added.

He further said once the cabinet approves this, authorities will decide on the number of licences to be given out. “Initially, the Excise Department, in all probability, will allow selected hotels and restaurants to brew their own beer,” the official noted.  He said apart from excise duty, import permit licence fee, special privilege fee, special fee, brand label registration fee, brand label approval fee and brand label renewal fee will be collected from the licence.

The official said strict rules will be implemented before licences are given out. Accordingly, if the licence or any other person in his employment contravenes any of the provisions of the licence, the commissioner may cancel the licence or forfeit the whole deposit. 

The excise department is also mulling issuing about 60 FL3 licences to setting up of hightech liquor bars in the cities. “At present, only 25 bars have such licences,” he said. The bars, to be set up in Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Salem will be extra spacious. “All brands of liquor including, those of foreign make will be available here. In addition, they will have same prices for all brands,” he added. 

A microbrewery or craft brewery is a brewery that produces small amounts of beer (or sometimes root beer), typically much smaller than largescale corporate breweries, and is independently owned. Such breweries are generally characterised by their emphasis on quality, flavour and brewing technique. In India, the first microbrewery opened in Howzatt, in Gurugram’s Galaxy Hotel.