Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, has approved a report that recommends reduction of drinking age to 21 from 25. The consultancy firm Accenture prepared the report. It foresees a separate Single Window Authority (SWA), headed by a bureaucrat of the principal secretary rank.

This resembles Singapore’s highly successful Online Business Licensing System (OBLS). This means, the famous night life of Mumbai is gearing up for a big boost. This lately had been under curfew because of growing police vigilantism as well as licensing authorities.

Principal Secretary to the CM, Praveen Pardeshi, told The Hindu, “The Chief Minister has in-principle approved this report by Accenture, and after only a few minor changes, we would soon be rolling out a policy on the basis of this.”

Other recommendations in the 86-page report include:

•    24x7 opening hours
•    abolition of permit rooms besides permits for drinking
•    single stroke joint grant of operational and construction permits
•    Cutting down the permissions from 142 to just 20

The issue is being debated among stakeholders and political parties. Most agree that archaic laws are not to be done away with. Fears of resident associations are that it will give the hotel owners guise to get away with gross violations.

Forecasts of the report

The report forecasts 100% increase of tourist expenditure in Mumbai as well as a drastic jump in the average length of stay (ALOS), upon implementation. At present, the ALOS is taken two days for domestic and four days for foreign tourists reaching Mumbai. The average tourist expenditure in a day is Rs 6,718 for foreigners, while Rs 3,141 for Indians.

-Sumana