By Sanjay Borkar Panaji 7 Aug : As Delhi and its neighbour Maharashtra cutting down on liquor prices and Goa’s liquor merchants are concerned that they will lose customers from tourists who visit Goa’s sunny state, who are no longer able to buy liquor at the state’s liquor stores like they did in the past.
The situation is so that tourists who visit Goa are mocking retailers for the higher prices of liquor.
According to the government’s figures, in 2019, about 71,27,000 foreign tourists went to Goa, of which 9,31,000 were foreign tourists.However, this number fell in 2020 and 2021 when the Covid epidemic struck the state’s coastal region.
But the tourism industry in the state is hopeful that the number of tourists will rise in the coming tourism season.
Dattaprasad Naik, President of Goa Liquor Traders Association, told IANS that the industry of liquor in Goa is experiencing losses for the last eight months.
“Since the last eight months, we’ve been unable to retain customers in the North.It’s a major setback to us.Tourists aren’t buying alcohol from us in the way they used to prior to that,” he said.
“Some are mocking us by claiming that the prices of liquor in Goa are more than double in comparison to Delhi,” Naik said.
The cost of liquor in Delhi decreased in comparison to the coastal state in recent years mainly because of the decrease in the registration costs for different brands.Also , the tax for liquor in Delhi is less than what is charged in Goa.
According to Naik the association has asked the Goa government to simplify the slab of excise duty.
“In real life the real world, the Delhi model is not going to perform in Goa,” he declared.
Naik also stated that duty slabs in Goa are not appropriate and also that the “label registration fee should be cut down.
“There ought to be ease of being a business in our trade.
It takes about 15 days to obtain an import license.They hold off issuing import permits which is not something that should be the case,” Naik said.
Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai was in the recent Assembly session, raised the issue of prices for liquor and claimed that the rates for liquor in Goa are more than other states, particularly Delhi.
He stated that the current situation is that many people bring alcohol into Goa from their states, particularly those who are visiting the state’s coast for weddings.
“Goa is an ideal destination for weddings however, many people bring alcohol from different states,” Sardesai had said.
“The government might be proud of the excise collection however the truth is that liquor sales have dropped.
The costs in Delhi as well as Maharashtra have decreased,” he had said.
Sameer Naik, a retailer Naik, a retailer, told IANS that since the time that liquor prices dropped in Delhi and Maharashtra sales have dropped in Goa.
“Why should they buy from us? Every day, the prices are increasing in this country.Sooner or later, we’ll have to rely only on local customers,” Sameer Naik said.
Sources have said that a lot of people used to move alcohol from Goa to the North and back, but it has been stopped.
An excise official who spoke under the the condition of anonymity said that although the government has earned substantial profits from the trade in liquor but the price difference will affect tourism and will be evident in the next season of tourism.
“There are many tourists from India who come to Goa mostly for cheap alcohol.Why would they want to come here now when the prices are more expensive in Goa,” he asked.
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