NT Reporter
Panaji
Leading alcoholic beverage industry bodies have urged the Goa government to defer implementation of the proposed Deposit Refund System (DRS) from April 2 to post-October 2026, warning that proceeding under the current timeline could disrupt supplies and cost the state over Rs 100 crore in excise revenue from beer and IMFL.
The Brewers’ Association of India (BAI), the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), which together account for most branded alcoholic beverages sold in the country and Goa, met Chairman of the Goa DRS Administration Committee Anthony De Sa, excise officials and the selected System Operator (SO) on February 18.
The associations jointly requested the state to form a taskforce with industry representatives to resolve “contentious and problematic issues” in the DRS framework and extend the deadline. They said critical elements, including Unique Serial Identifier (USI) specifications and application standards, are yet to be issued, preventing manufacturers from starting essential inventory pre-building that begins in February.
They cautioned that existing production lines would require reconfiguration, reducing efficiency by 25–30 per cent and potentially leading to a shortfall of 10–15 lakh cases during peak season. High-speed alternatives would need up to five months for vendor onboarding, installation and validation.
“While we support Goa’s commitment to environmental stewardship, the current timelines for implementation are extremely compressed and risk causing significant supply chain disruptions for the industry… Implementing such changes now could severely impact supply continuity to the state of Goa,” said Vinod Giri, Director General, BAI.
The industry also questioned the preparedness of the selected SO. “Current plan of 300 return vending machines is grossly inadequate… The one size fit all approach of charging flat Rs 10 on every bottle… makes no sense. Further, the chosen SO has no prior experience of handling something of this scale,” said Sanjit Padhi, CEO, ISWAI.
While welcoming the committee’s decision to form a joint taskforce, the associations reiterated that implementation should be deferred to ensure clarity on commercial terms, recovery benchmarks, payment timelines and reuse rights for recovered bottles.
