NEW DELHI: Delhi government may relax the norm for setting up labs at warehouses of the wholesalers for testing samples of alcohol to check mixing of any spurious item, in its Excise Policy 2022-23, officials said. The Excise Policy being framed by the government for 2022-23 is likely to allow a wholesale licensee (L-1) to set up just one lab, instead of a lab at each warehouse owned by the licensee, they said.
The move comes after the wholesale licensees represented to the excise department that establishing of laboratory at each bonded warehouse is a costly affair, said an official document. Approximately Rs 20-30 lakh, which includes expenses on staff salary and testing material, is needed to set up a fully equipped lab as per BIS standards, the wholesalers told the excise department.
The L-1 licence being a nonrenewable one, there is no guarantee that the same entity will be granted L-1 licence in the next policy year, the document noted. The issue was taken up during a meeting of group of ministers last month to recommend changes in the Excise Policy 2021-22 that stipulated the wholesale licensees to set up labs at all warehouses operated by them.
“It was proposed that instead of establishment of lab at each bonded warehouse, each L-1 licensee must have at least one laboratory irrespective of the number of bonded warehouses operated through the licence,’ the document said.
The recommendations of the GoM for the Excise Policy 2022-23 will be implemented from June 1, after approval by the Lt Governor. Last year, the excise had asked all the wholesale licensees to start testing liquor from manufacturers and upload reports on a portal along with undertaking that there is no spurious alcohol.