Beers going MIA in Delhi? Budweiser, Kingfisher and other popular brands are vanishing from stores - here's why

This shift has left both consumers and popular beer brewers bewildered.

A shortage of popular beer brands is causing a significant drop in sales at liquor stores. If you are on the lookout for chilled beer, you are likely to spot Barahsinghe, Druk or Le Chilldoz than a can of Kingfisher or Budweiser. Several well-known national and global beer brands have all but vanished from the city’s shelves.

In their place, lesser - known names—some locally made, others imported from Nepal and Bhutan—are rapidly gaining ground. This has sparked concerns across India's beer industry.

“Most of the city now has lesser-known brands. Cheaper beer from Bhutan and Nepal is also entering the market, further crowding out familiar names," said Vinod Giri, director general of the Brewers Association of India (BAI), which represents firms like Heineken, AB InBev and United Breweries, according to a report by Mint.

Other than Delhi, a similar trend is being seen in states like Tamil Nadu, where government-run liquor stores dominate the liquor industry, pushing established beer brands to the sidelines.

This shift has left both consumers and popular beer brewers bewildered.

Reason behind this shift?

Largely, three factors are driving this shift: margins, market control, and policy paralysis.

First, imported beers from Bhutan and Nepal—exempt from customs duties under India’s trade policy—are much cheaper for stores to stock. Unlike most other states, Delhi doesn’t impose countervailing duties and charges lower excise taxes on these imports. This makes Bhutanese beers Rs 20 cheaper per bottle and retailers are able to earn an extra Rs 5 in margins, giving them a strong reason to push these products.

Second, the number of liquor stores in Delhi has been slashed by half. From 565 outlets before the 2022 policy rollback, only 380 state-run stores remain today. With fewer vends and limited shelf space, smaller brands offering higher margins are squeezing out established names.

Finally, there has been no clear excise policy since 2022. The current regime runs on ad hoc decisions, creating uncertainty in the market, experts told Mint.

The roots of this distortion also lie in Delhi’s U-turn on excise policy.
After briefly opening up liquor retail to private players under its 2021–22 excise policy, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government scrapped the framework in mid-2022 amid allegations of corruption and a CBI probe.

By September that year, the capital reverted to its old regime, with sales handled exclusively by four state-run corporations—Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC), and Delhi Consumer’s Cooperative Wholesale Store (DCCWS).

Even after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won Delhi election, no new policy was introduced. The market has since been operating in a regulatory vacuum.

What are the brands missing?

Major beer brands like Kingfisher, Budweiser, Heineken, and Carlsberg are largely missing from Delhi liquor stores. According to the excise department records accessed by Mint, these brands are being replaced by brands such as Arna, Miamy, Pazap, Serja, and Awitman.

Industry executives say that even when demand exists, government-run vends are simply not ordering their products. “Sales are down to just 1–2% of what we saw in 2022," said the sales head of a leading beer company on condition of anonymity, according to a report by Mint. “The vends are either chasing higher margins or are incentivised in other ways. Either way, they’re not stocking us."

Delhi residents are also adjusting. Many are now driving to nearby Gurgaon or Noida to stock up on their preferred brands.