Wine and Politics
The Wine
Club
Alok
Chandra / New Delhi December, 2006
Wine
and politics, as they say, make strange
bedfellows. It is a truism that anything
as rooted in agriculture as wine arouses
strong passions both among the producers
(for whom it is a livelihood) as well
as among the consumers (who want quality).
Now that interest in wine in India is
raising expectations all over, I thought
it high time to delve into our third most-favourite
preoccupation politics (the first two
being cricket and filmstars).
Alcoholic beverages being a state subject,
the excise departments of all states have
formulated their own rules and regulations
(and duties and taxes) governing the production,
distribution and consumption of anything
containing alcohol.
In many states the state excise duties
are the single-biggest contributor to
the exchequer, as well as a significant
source of cash for those in power and
authority. Which is why the state is loath
to relinquish control of any aspect of
alcoholic beverages and it takes a very
strong lobby to overcome this inertia.
It is only Maharashtra, where the cooperative
movement has been spectacularly successful,
that the lobby of grape farmers and wine
producers were able to push through a
forward-looking Wine Policy in 2001 that
has today resulted in some 45 new wineries
(and counting); Karnataka is still fooling
around with the subject as there is no
strong lobby (or, as yet, no one willing
to facilitate the process).
What all the politicians and bureaucrats
lose sight of in seeking to control any
industry is that, at the end of the day,
it‚s all about delivering consumer
benefit: the best possible product at
the least possible cost. Enabling this
will wean away an increasing number of
people from the rotgut spirits available
here and rapidly expand the market for
wine which will attract more investment
in the industry, which in turn will make
wines more competitive and deliver more
benefit to the consumer∑ a virtuous
spiral where everybody wins!
Of course, the spirit lobby is also strongly
opposed to any loosening of controls on
wine as they consider this to be the thin
end of the wedge that could also lead
to god forbid! liberalising beer from
the dead hand of state controls and a
spurt in beer consumption!
Witness what‚s been happening in
Punjab, where beer volumes have doubled
this past year after the cartel system
was rationalised.
There‚s no denying that the liberalisation
of imports has led to a veritable flood
of imported wines being available on retail
shelves which has stimulated both consumer
interest and appreciation as well as investment
in producing wines locally.
This despite the customs duties being
a crushing 150-250 per cent, the process
for importing wines being costly and time-consuming,
and the registration and taxation system
in most states being a major deterrent
to wine imports.
Which is why I have the greatest respect
and admiration for all those importers
(Brindco, Sonarys, GTF, Mohan Brothers,
Sovereign Impex, to name but a few) who
have stayed the course and persisted with
importing wines despite continuing losses
and huge investments.
Their common dream is that at some time
in the future our desi business sense
will overcome the politics of control,
and the wine trade will actually start
making some money.
For now, they are content to be in the
company of the world‚s leading wine
makers, and to drink some of the world‚s
finest wines at those winemaker dinners
you may have heard about.
Sante‚, Prost, Cheers!
al_chandra@vsnl.net
