Rooftop restaurants at star hotels in Maharashtra can now serve liquor

The Maharashtra State Excise Department vide a Government Resolution (GR) has granted permission to star-rated hotels in the state to serve liquor in their open-to-air terrace restaurants. Until now, these restaurants could only serve food. The permission, however, will be granted only to those hotels that have obtained an NOC from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and from the Fire Department for statutory compliances. The GR also allows hotels to apply for a single composite licence covering all its restaurants, lounges and cafes, making the process of applying for liquor licence simpler. The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) has welcomed the move and has indicated that it will continue holding dialogues with the government for making the same applicable to restaurants, too.

“The Association has been liasioning with various departments of the state for over a decade on this subject. We wish to thank the State Government and the Excise Ministry for considering our suggestions. While this is applicable only to star-rated hotels as of now, we would be interacting with the department to include non-starred hotels and stand-alone restaurants as well,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President, HRAWI.