Wine In India-a Travel Through Time - Neeraj Dubey

WINE IN INDIA- a travel through time - Neeraj Dubey India has forever remained a land of dichotomies. It has always perceived a notion in almost two totally paradoxical perspectives. And wine or liquor is no exception to this rule. When on one hand it was a drink of festivities; it was also considered a forbidden affair for the society at large. Drink was considered as a ‘Taamasi’ food that is always subject to repudiation as it only results in bad thoughts and behaviour. But it was never shunned completely and pervaded every spatial and temporal dimension.

Since the very inception Indians had the native familiarity with Wine. This becomes apparent with the artifacts found at the sites of Harappan Civilization. During the Vedic period wine was often referred to as Somarasa; it was believed to be associated with Indra, and was a part of religious festivals. Soma is mentioned in Vedic scriptures as well. Also the reference of Drakshasava is found in ayurvedic texts which was basically a delicious digestive preparation made from ripened red grapes, cinnamon, cardamom, nagkesara, vidanga, tejpatra, pippali, and black pepper and contained natural alcohol.

Moreover, the Shaivite cult had the practice of consuming intoxicating drink as a part of religious practice. In ancient India the ‘madiralaya’, as known from the texts were important place of recreation and amusement. The concept of ‘madirapaan’ is ubiquitous in legends as well. Even during the days of Kautilya, the mention of beverage prepared from fruits as a royal drink is found. But the perception remained a taboo for society at large. The Islamic rulers forbade drinking as per their religious norms. However, during the medieval period several rulers had the habit of drinking in courts during ceremonies and celebrations. The big tribal population has in their custom, the culture of social and religious drinking.

But contrary to this idea, Drinking has always remained a social taboo and therefore no culture of social drinking could ever develop in India. Even Constitution of India puts a proscription for liquours in India by Section 47 of the Directive Principle of State Policy declaring that “the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes - of intoxicating drinks”. India has predominantly remained a non- drinking country. Now it is high time to revive the notion of social drinking and responsible drinking habit with proper regulatory affairs of the state. Since almost a thousand years or so, wine is being made in India. With so many years of rich experience Indians have developed a proclivity for both beer and wine. I.P.A. -Indian Pale Ale was one of the first forms of beer made by brewers in India. It was basically made to stand the great voyage from Britain. But, beer did not reach the sub Continent until the early to mid 19th century. Before this period, rice beer was made in some areas. The practice to brew rice beers remained in the conventional tribal and some village folds. The European travellers brought wine to the courts of the Mughal emperors Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jehan. Royal vineyards enabled the emperors to have a taste of red (Kandhari) and white wines (Bhokri, Fakdi, Sahebi etc.) that were produced for the royal fervor. The next important contribution was made by the Portuguese settlers who not only improved the

wine they found in the 16th century when they came to Goa but also introduced a new variety of wine for the Indian sub-continent: Vindaloo. The practice started by sailors of keeping meat in barrels of wine laced with garlic properly mashed with spices of India gave birth to this new range originally called VIN d'Ail. The reference of the famous Persians wine, Shiraz, which was often sent to the Moguls in India, and later to the British, is often made.

Since 1612, wine began becoming more and more familiar throughout India due to the British influence. As cost of shipping wine to India was very high, the British planted vineyards, in Surat, and also in Kashmir. The popularity was picking up; a phylloxera epidemic destroyed all the vines in India. Interestingly, around the 1860s, when the Schweppes Company began marketing its anti-malaria tonic, gin began to gain currency as the best means for making tonic palatable! Under British influence vineyards were established and a number of Indian wines were exhibited and favourably received by visitors to the Great Calcutta Exhibition of 1884. Even though the Indian vineyards were totally destroyed due to unknown reasons after only a few years from then, still the penchant lived. This and several such episodes helped in keeping the interest regarding the wine alive. And eventually after a long pause of several years it was revived yet again in 1985. Today, in the 21st century, Wine is seen as a sophisticated drink and infact considered being healthier than liquor. This factor has made it popular even amongst women and the young starters. Well, Youth appeal is important in a country where majority of population is below the age of 25. Then the only way to grow the market is by making wine affordable and accessible to all. Once utility of the drink is proved the consumer behaviour and attitude toward wine would certainly change. The wine market is in formative stage in India. Today India has 123,000 acres of vineyards, but only around one per cent of them are used for wine. It requires extensive efforts from all quarters to have a reputed position in India. It is clear that availability of liquor cannot be unfettered because of health and safety concern. But for responsible drinkers the availability of choice can be ensured with state acting as a guardian. It is apparent that the steps taken by the government were not sufficient enough to help the industry grow at a pace. The present wine market is expanding at the rate of 30% for imported, 35% for domestic wines. This growth is not only sustainable, but could even be conservative if duties were lowered. According to the Constitution of India the liquor industry is regulated by the states and not the centre. Intoxicating liquors are specifically covered by Entry 8 of the State List, and this places all aspects including manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquors within the sphere of the state only. Since alcoholic beverages are a state subject, each of India’s 29 states and 6 union territories has their own rules & regulations and duties & taxes. Even the pattern of wine distribution and control varies.

India followed a system of non-automatic import licensing (quantitative restrictions) to BIO wines and spirits until April 2001. Under that system, strictly limited quantities of BIO products were allowed to be imported for sale in certain tourist hotels. Then, import of liquors including wines was allowed under the Open General Licence (OGL). No import

licence is required for wine and anyone can import wines into a Customs Bonded Warehouse. However, each label, each size of bottle and each manufacturer has to be registered with the Department of Excise & Customs against a fee. A distributor has to obtain a license to distribute liquors. The industry faces threat of prohibition in several states, high taxes, restrictions on advertising, restrictions on inter-state movement, etc. Liquor industry in India is highly government regulated in terms of constraints on manufacturing, storage as well as distribution. The imported wines and spirits (BII and BIO) are not systematically exempt from the plethora of different sales taxes; value added taxes, and other indirect taxes applied by Indian States. Government aims at uniform state-level taxation on alcoholic beverages across the country and therefore has plans of a new state excise policy. In a recent move that could make both imported as well as locally-made booze cheaper; the Central Government has prescribed a maximum state excise of 25% for wine in various states. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 applicable to all of India have been enacted by the Union Government. The term “FOOD” in the new law has been defined to include alcoholic drinks, among other items. Once it comes into force then all provisions made under the Act would become applicable to alcoholic drinks as well. The present statute The Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 applicable to food items in India does not include alcoholic drinks like ‘wine’ as a food item. The Government of India is actively considering setting an Indian Wine Board under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries at the Central level for promoting the domestic wine industry. Wine has travelled a long way through time and the occasion is ripe for claiming the position it deserve. If the policies are set in tune then sooner the status of wine will definitely get a great boost in the Indian scenario. Let’s wait and watch.

Neeraj Dubey Neeraj Dubey is a Corporate Lawyer based in Delhi. He has an experience of working in diverse field of Corporate, NGO, IPR and Cyber Laws