The unavailability of liquor in Delhi for a few days or weeks would also mean that sales in neighbouring Gurugram and Noida will pick up, as the Capital’s residents will be bound to buy their bottles from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. However, the state government exited the liquor business on September 30 last year and has no shops of its own in the city, which means Delhi would likely go dry at least till the government could set up its own vends. The 2021-22 excise policy expires on July 31 (Sunday), and will not be renewed, Sisodia said on Saturday afternoon, announcing that only vends operated by the state government will function till a new regime is announced and approved. Officials aware of the matter said chief secretary Naresh Kumar held discussions late on Saturday with the excise department, deputy CM and excise minister Manish Sisodia and the Lieutenant Governor’s office and decided to extend the 2021-22 policy by a month to stop all stores downing their shutters, even as Sisodia earlier in the day announced that the city would revert to its previous liquor regime, with only the state government re-entering the liquor business and start running vends of their own. Despite the Delhi government’s late-evening decision on Saturday to extend the existing 2021-22 excise policy by a month to prevent the Capital scrambling for a bottle from Monday, traders in the city said there are still likely to be widespread gaps in the availability of liquor in the coming days, with vendors and stores unlikely to place fresh bulk orders just to see the month out.

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