Zomato’s plan, home delivery of liquor in the coming days

There is a lockdown in India for the last two months. In such a situation, till a few days ago, the government had stopped the sale of all non-essential goods except essential goods in both online and offline markets. Now in Lockdown 3.0, the government has made some rules, under which the sale of non-essential goods has been started in some safe areas. Not only this, recently the government had also opened some selected liquor shops. However, the government’s concerns seem to be increasing due to the crowd outside liquor shops and non-compliance of social distancing. Now a new report has come out, where food delivery startup Zomato plans to convert the increasing demand for liquor into earnings during the coronavirus lockdown in the country. The company is trying to help in delivering liquor to people’s homes.

Zomato is attempting to deliver liquor during the lockdown in India, according to a document seen by Reuters. The company has already expanded its footprint into grocery delivery as many restaurants are closed due to the ban and people are avoiding eating out due to the risk of infection. In such a situation, the company is constantly searching for means of earning.

Liquor shops, which were locked across the country since March 25, were allowed to open from this week. However, immediately after this decision, queues of hundreds of people formed outside liquor shops in some cities. The crowd was so huge that at many places the police had to resort to lathi charge to enforce social distancing. To reduce the crowd, the Delhi government imposed 70 percent special corona fee on liquor and the Mumbai government closed all the shops again within two days.

Let us tell you that at present there is no legal provision for delivery of liquor in India and to change this, talks are going on between International Spirits and Wine Association of India (ISWAI) and online food delivery app Zomato along with some other apps.

ISWAI Executive Chairman Amrit Kiran Singh says that state governments should start delivery of liquor, so that there can be some improvement in the revenue of the states facing the brunt of the lockdown.

The report states that ISWAI has contacted Zomato as well as Swiggy on this matter.

According to the most recent data from London-based research group IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the alcoholic drinks market in India was worth about $27.2 billion (about Rs 2.06 lakh crore) in 2018.