Good news for beer guzzlers: Will be back on store shelves in 10 days

Kolkata: Supply of beer in the city is going to get normalised in the next 7 to 10 days, sources said. For the past 20 to 22 days, the supply of almost all top brands of beer has dried up all across the city.

There was no supply of beer either in stores or in bars, as the production in main breweries had stopped. The final decision over the new pricing is yet to be taken after the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) has become the nodal distributing body of the same in the city.

It may be mentioned that with the increase in the excise duty, the price is also about to increase by around Rs 50 on an average, for a bottle of beer of any top brand. The companies were, however, not ready to accept the steep rise in the price, apprehending a fall in the sale of the extremely popular beverage. Since a couple of companies had agreed to continue with the production by increasing the price, it was initially available in some off-shops in the city. But at present, it has gone out of stock in most stores. Beer is not available in selected retail stores as well.

Sources said that there were a series of meetings held in this connection in the past one month. The deadlock seems to have come to an end in a meeting held recently, in which the beer companies have entered an agreement over the revised rate of beer across different brands. There was also a discussion on finalising the maximum retail price (MRP).

Now, with all the stakeholders coming to a consensus of introducing the revised rate for beer, the production is also expected to start soon in the breweries, including the two main ones at Dhaniakhali and Kalyani, said an official on condition of anonymity, adding that if everything goes as expected, then beer bottles will once again become well available in the city stores and bars within the next 7 to 10 days.