NEW DELHI: Delhiites will not have to travel to GURUGRAMevery time they want to enjoy freshly-brewed beer. After a procedural delay of almost four years, the national capital is likely to get its first microbrewery by mid-June.
Senior excise officials said they are evaluating the application of a prominent restobar in Delhi for permission to install a microbrewery on its premises. A survey of the premises is likely to be conducted next week, following which the licence to operate the microbrewery to sell freshly crafted beer would be issued.
“We are scrutinising the papers submitted by the applicant. If the papers are found in place and no major deficiency is found on the premises where the proposed microbrewery is supposed to come up, the licence would be granted,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
Though the Delhi government had announced in its 2015 excise policy that it would allow restaurants and hotels to open microbreweries on their premises, it couldn’t be implemented as under the rules, breweries were then considered ‘liquor-making plants’ that are banned in the capital.
It was only in September 2018 that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), at its board meeting, cleared the proposal to facilitate setting up of microbreweries by removing it from the list of “prohibited” industries under the Master Plan Delhi 2021, provided that an onsite wastewater treatment facility is installed on the premises. The applicant was also required to take approval of the water treatment system from Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
It was, however, only after the ministry of housing and urban affairs notified the change in February this year that the process to set up microbreweries in Delhi picked up speed. Officials said that after completing the lengthy process of installing a water treatment system as per the guidelines, the applicant has managed to take the approval of the DPCC and submitted its papers to the excise department for the licence.
While the first microbrewery is likely to open in Delhi in the next few days, excise officials said they expect at least four-five more such bars that sell crafted beer to come up this summer.