There is a lockdown in India for the last two months. In such a situation, till a few days ago, the government had stopped the sale of all non-essential goods in both online and offline markets except for essential goods. In Lockdown 3.0, the government has now made some rules, under which the sale of non-essential goods has been started in some safe areas. Not only this, recently the government had also opened some selected liquor shops. However, due to the crowd outside liquor shops and non-compliance of social distancing, the concerns of the government seem to be increasing. Now a new report has surfaced, where food delivery startup Zomato plans to convert the increasing demand for alcohol into earnings during the coronavirus lockdown in the country. The company is trying to help deliver the liquor to the homes of the people.

According to a document seen by Reuters, Zomato is trying to deliver alcohol during the lockdown in India. The company has already expanded its footprint in grocery delivery as many restaurants are closed due to the ban and people are avoiding eating out due to the risk of infection. In such a situation, the company is constantly looking for means of earning.

Liquor shops were locked across the country since March 25, which got permission to open from this week. However, soon after the decision came, hundreds of people queued up outside liquor shops in some cities. The crowd was so much that in many places the police had to even lathi-charge to ensure that social distancing is followed. To reduce the crowd, the Delhi government imposed a special corona fee of 70 percent on liquor and the Mumbai government again closed all the shops within two days.

Let us inform that at present there is no legal provision for the delivery of liquor in India and to change this, talks are going on between the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) and online food delivery app Zomato along with some other apps.

ISWAI Executive Chairman Amrit Kiran Singh says that the state governments should start the delivery of liquor, which will bring some improvement in the revenue of the states hit by the lockdown.

The report states that ISWAI has contacted Zomato as well as Swiggy on the matter.

According to the most recent data from London-based research group IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the alcoholic drinks market in India was valued at around $27.2 billion (about Rs 2.06 lakh crore) in 2018.