The price of your favourite Scotch whisky -- Chivas Regal, Glenlivet, Johnie Walker Black Label, McCallan, Cuttysark or William Grant -- is likely to come down by 10-15 per cent shortly with the reduction in the basic Customs duty on liquor from 182 per cent to 166 per cent.
This is in conformity with the government's World Trade Organisation commitments accompanied by a decrease in countervailing duty for imports costing more than $40.
Dinesh Jain, managing director (India), Highland Distillers, said the price of McCallan was likely to come down from the current Rs 6,000 to Rs 4,800. He added that the price of Famous Grouse, however, will come down marginally from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,400.
Jain said the marginal decrease in prices was because a major proportion of the reduction in duty had been absorbed by the currency appreciation of about 12 per cent (in case of pound) over the past year.
Seagrams has also decided to cut the prices of its Chivas Regal whisky and Glenlivet single malt. In Delhi, for instance, where the brand is only available in hotels, the price of Chivas Regal is likely to reduce by Rs 500 from the current Rs 2,500.
In Mumbai, however, the prices would fall from Rs 3,700 to Rs 2,900, said Aditya Gooptu, the company's marketing manager for scotch. The reduction would be similar in case of Glenlivet, he added.
Amrit Kiran Singh, worldwide vice president and area director (South Asia), Brown-Forman Spirits, said imported spirits today were only purchased from the grey market at Rs 1,500 per bottle.
"With reductions in this year's Budget, the legal price will still be at least Rs 1,000 per bottle over the grey market price in any state. Hence, illegal sales are unlikely to take place," he added.
The proposals will also bring down the price of imported champagne. Ashwin Deo, managing director, Moet Hennessy India, said while the price of its Moet Chandon is likely to go down from the current Rs 3,200 to Rs 2,700 and from Rs 9,000 to Rs 8,200 in case of Dom Perignon in a market like Mumbai, the prices of imports with CIF value between $25-40 is actually expected to increase.
Deo said that the additional duty for CIF value $30 has increased from $25 to $37.
"Thus, the prices of most of the middle and premium segment wines, including Oxford Landing will increase by about 20-25 per cent from the current Rs 1,200," he said.
Even if the prices had come down because of the reduction in duties, they were nowhere near the prices of the same products elsewhere in the world, Deo added.
