BJP battles Delhi cartels as Punjab brands dominate sales in national capital

Three biggest-selling brands still being All Seasons Collectors Collection Reserve Whisky, Royal Green Rich Blended Whisky and White & Blue Select Whisky. (PTI file photo)

Ten months after assuming office in the national capital, the BJP-led Delhi government has begun cracking down on alleged liquor cartels, even as the city's best-selling liquor brands remain largely unchanged from the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) administration, the Economic Times (ET) reported.

Sales data for November accessed from the Delhi excise department shows that the top 10 whisky brands sold in Delhi continue to mirror the AAP era, ET said. The newspaper had earlier reported on January 18, 2025, that seven of the top 10 whisky brands sold in Delhi were manufactured in Punjab, where AAP has been in power since February 2022. That pattern remains intact, with the three biggest-selling brands still being All Seasons Collectors Collection Reserve Whisky, Royal Green Rich Blended Whisky and White & Blue Select Whisky, ET reported.

Officials say national liquor brands are yet to gain meaningful shelf space in Delhi. A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told ET that a detailed analysis of sales data indicated the presence of a cartel influencing brand availability. "We studied the sales statistics and realised that a liquor cartel has been at work and needs to be broken. It involves micromanaging what brands are ordered by the liquor vends. We have taken steps to break the cartel," the official said.

Highly placed sources told ET that managers of liquor vends allegedly favour specific brands from certain companies in return for monetary benefits. These preferred brands are consistently ordered and prominently stocked, limiting consumer choice. As customers continue buying what is readily available, the same brands keep getting reordered, reinforcing their dominance, the sources said.

To counter this, the Delhi government is introducing measures to ensure that no single liquor brand commands more than 25% market share at any vend, while also opening up space for national brands on store shelves, ET reported.

The excise department has instructed supervisory officers to monitor sales patterns at liquor vends on a weekly basis. Detailed reports must be submitted wherever a single brand or a single company's brands account for more than 25% of sales in a particular segment. These reports will be sent to the liquor division every Monday, ET said.

Deputy managers will compile these submissions into a consolidated weekly report, tracking ordering trends and flagging instances where specific brands or companies appear to be favoured, ET reported.

Following the alleged liquor policy scam of 2022-which led to the arrest of senior AAP leaders-Delhi reverted to its earlier excise policy from September 1, 2022, ET noted. Under this framework, the excise department issues L-1 wholesale licences to liquor manufacturers, who then supply alcohol to retail vends operated by government agencies.

At present, liquor vends in Delhi are run by four state-owned entities: Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Wholesale Store, and Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd. The Delhi government is currently working on a new excise policy, ET reported.