Sour grapes – or are they?

The decision of Government of Maharashtra to allow sale of wine in supermarkets, and kirana shops with area larger than 1000 sq ft, has triggered an unprecedented bloom of ‘creative writing’ in the Marathi middle class – here, I don’t mean ‘economic’ middle class. It’s another thing that most of these creative guys are in a class that would demand resignation of Maharashtra CM for reasons such temperature in the state sliding below average. Hence a few reflections may be in order :

1. The decision need not come as a shock. Wine and beer was sold in supermarkets such as Central Mall and Reliance Mall a decade or so ago. There was no public outcry about it then, though the ‘shop in shop’ idea for sale of wine / beer in such locations bombed – presumably due to poor response.
2. Kirana shop business in Maharashtra is nearly completely dominated by Marwadi / Jain community which is largely averse to the idea of selling liquor. You come across liquor shops owned by Sindhi / Punjabi / Gujarati / Marathi / Parsee / Christian owners but hardly Marwadi.
3. Not many kirana shops will meet the 1000 sq ft norm. The ones that will, will have to make substantial investment in creating space to chill / display / stock wines. Also they will have to create facilities to seal all of this on dry days.
4. Wine prices in the state (upward of Rs 800 per bottle) are at levels which beyond the reach of many. Also, we look at a bigger bang for our rupee and prefer a ‘khamba’ to get the desired kick.

If the Government wants to boost wine sales of wine ( and thereby improve the economic status of grape growers) they could assign the status of agricultural product to wine and take it out of the purview of alcohol products for state exice purposes. If done, wine producers will get bank finance at lower interest rates bringing down the cost of production. This will also mean wines will come under GST and would be taxed at 18 percent making them fairly affordable. Unlikely to happen as states ( ruled by saffron or any other colour) have used liquor as cash cow and are strongly against moving it to GST regime.
Also, there indeed is the necessity to help consumers understand wine and the many nuances of it. Wine industry has been trying to do this for many years without much success. Many people still wonder what they should mix wine with – ice, soda or water, or Pepsi in an odd case.
Culture police in the guise of creative writers may therefore rest. Wine in kirana shop is not such a menace as bull in a china shop.