Indian restaurant aggregator and food delivery startup Zomato now sets its eye on liquor delivery as it wants to capitalize on high demand for spirits, Reuters reported.

Zomato has already branched out into grocery deliveries and essentials during the coronavirus lockdown.

This came at a time when the Centre and the states lifted restrictions on liquor shops and witnessed people thronging outside the stores, flouting social distancing guidelines. Many states, including Punjab and Chhattisgrah, had to resort to home delivery of alcohol.

Currently, there is no legal provision for food delivery platforms to provide doorstep delivery of alcohol. However, the industry body International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) is lobbying to change in conjunction with Zomato and others.

"We believe that a technology-enabled home delivery based solution can promote responsible consumption of alcohol," Mohit Gupta, Zomato's CEO for food delivery, wrote in a business proposal to ISWAI, cited in the Reuters report.

The legal age for drinking alcohol varies from state to state, ranging between 18 and 25 years.

Zomato would target "areas that are relatively less affected by COVID-19," Mr Gupta wrote in the unpublished document, submitted to ISWAI in mid-April and seen by Reuters.

India's alcohol drinks market was worth almost $27.2 billion in 2018, according to the most recent figures from the London-based research group IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.

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