New Delhi, Jan. 18:
Aimed at making Indian airport hubs more ‘happening’, Assocham has
written to the Government to consider increasing the limit of liquor allowance
to four litres a passenger.
In a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram, the industry body said
that this would stimulate industry buying on international arrivals. Pointing
out that many countries had higher duty-free quota for travellers, the chamber
said the enhanced limit would add approximately Rs 300 crore to the exchequer.
India currently allows two litres of liquor purchase at international
airports. Compare this with Dubai Airport, which allows a passenger to carry
four litres, provided the buying is done at the airport, while Singapore, Sri
Lanka and the European Union permit three litres, 4.5 litres and four litres,
respectively.
According to data by Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), liquor
accounts for 63 per cent of total sales across airports compared with 17 per
cent globally.
The traditional duty-free segment, liquor is projected to remain the
largest single category, although its share is expected to decline to 43 per
cent from 63 per cent in the next 10 years. Combined with a large share of duty
paid revenue, Indian airports could see liquor sales of over $800 million a
year by 2021.
CAPA estimates the value of airport-based duty-free sales in India in
2010-11 at $215 million or less than one per cent of the global sales of $23
billion. This is despite the fact that India accounts for around three per cent
of global airport passenger traffic.
Liquor industry players, however, remained non-committal about sales.
Duty-free buying is still low in India and it may not have major revenue
impact, they said.
When contacted, ABD Vice-Chairman Deepak Roy said, “We are not aware of
any such proposal being sent. But it could be a positive move for the liquor
industry.”
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