Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Nearly three years after the state government rolled out heritage liquor policy, the initiative has struggled to gain traction.
Only two heritage liquor manufacturing plants were set up through self-help groups, and of these, Alirajpur’s plant is barely surviving. The Dindori plant shut down seven to eight months ago.
Government officials say support is largely policy-level, such as encouraging beer bars to stock heritage liquor or include it in menus. But public response has remained lukewarm.
Ankita Bhabar, a technician at Alirajpur plant producing brand “Mond,” told Free Press that demand comes mainly from Bhopal, with negligible interest elsewhere.
Only half of the production is being sold, and high transportation cost makes supplying small distant orders unviable. Local demand is low as heritage liquor is costlier than other brands and consumption peaks only in winter.
The Dindori plant was closed due to poor sales and delayed payments from buyers. Rajkumar, associated with Dindori self-help group, said, “Whatever we manufactured was unsaleable. Beer bar owners in Gwalior and Jabalpur delayed payments, and all this led to closure.”
