Puducherry Government listed wine as food item to attract tourists

The Puducherry government on 17 July 2013 delinked wine from the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) category and listed as a food item to attract more tourists to the state.

With the Government’s decision, wine will not flow freely into the town as the ban on sale of wine bottles in general stores will continue as usual and sale will be allowed only in licensed IMFL shops, and hotels.

The government also reduced excise duty on wine to increase the volume of sale.

The decision was taken in accordance with the expectation of tourists from neighbouring areas, who had stopped visiting the town in recent months because of increase in excise duty that took the prices of premium varieties almost equivalent to Tamil Nadu.