Say cheers! Kerala govt considering to set up pubs

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government seems to have finally woken up to demands for setting up more social infrastructure which has hugely been on demand from the young professional community. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan indicated that the government is considering a proposal to allow functioning of pubs in the state.

“It has come to our notice that there are no facilities like pubs in the state. The government is seriously considering the matter,” he said in his weekly television programme ‘Naam Munnottu’, which would be aired in the coming week.

Lack of social infrastructure was cited as a major hindrance for the development of IT townships, mainly around Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram and Infopark in Kochi . IT industrialists and professionals repeatedly demand flexible policies from the government so that facilities like pubs can function in the state.

At present, the licence for pubs (that serve a variety of beer along with food) can be given to the public by bringing amendment to the foreign liquor rules. In fact, the pub licence is available with the government and is legal in the state (FL-13), but is open only for Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) and Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC).

The licence for pubs being offered to private entrepreneurs along with setting up of microbreweries, would cater to the demand by several companies like Nissan that had pointed out the lack of social infrastructure in the state as a major lacuna for functioning.

The excise department had raised the idea of microbreweries that brew drought beer (beer before pasteurization to be maintained between 0-4 degrees Celsius to be used within 48 hours of manufacture) in 2005, but was then declined by the government. In August 2017, the department once again recommended the government to revive the recommendation.

The proposal had said that the microbreweries should be based only in cities and major tourism centres in the state like Kovalam , Varkala , Munnar and Bekal, which would add to the immense tourism potential.

Microbreweries that offer beer without preservatives like glycerine added for stretching shelf-life of bottled beer up to six months, brew and serve beer at the respective brewing hotels or restaurants. At present, states like Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab and West Bengal have microbreweries. On the basis of the recommendation of the department, the government had sent a team of excise officials to Karnataka for studying the microbreweries. The team came with a report favouring the idea, but the matter did not proceed further.