New Delhi: Shortage of beer has not just led to a drop in sales at liquor stores in Delhi, prominent clubs and bars of the city are also bearing the brunt of it. Restaurateurs alleged that there was a severe shortage of popular beer brands at the warehouses and the non-availability had started impacting sales at their restaurants. They added that some of the popular spirits were also not available.
The restaurateurs rued that they were somehow managing to survive on whatever little was available at the warehouses and there was a substantial shift of customers to the bars and clubs in neighbouring towns in Haryana and UP. To procure the stock of liquor, restaurateurs have to place an order on a portal run by the excise department. “But when we try to source beer, it says the warehouse is closed,” said a person running a bar in south Delhi.
“What we have come to know is that whatever little stock Delhi’s wholesalers get is being diverted to the shops, which are run by govt’s corporations, to show that there is no shortage. Though this problem has been persisting since April, it has become acute in the last few days,” he claimed. Sudhakar Banerjee, a banker, said he visited a popular niche restaurant with his family on Sunday and was surprised to find that not even a single brand of beer was available.
“When we asked for our favourite brands of whiskey, even those were not available,” Banerjee said. No reaction was available from Delhi govt’s excise department..