Mumbai raises drinking age limit to 25

PHOTO: AFP

BOTTOMS UP - but only if you are 25 or older.

That is the verdict from Indian lawmakers who have voted to raise the age limit for buying alcohol in the country's entertainment capital Mumbai.

Legislators decided to change the minimum age for buying beer from 18 to 21 and spirits from 21 to 25 to discourage under-age consumption and problem drinking on Wednesday.

The measures will apply in Mumbai, which is often seen as India's most cosmopolitan city with a vibrant nightlife, and across the state of Maharashtra.

It will include fines for illegal drinking and a ban on serving alcohol at public functions and ceremonies when the sale of alcohol is banned.

Spirit-makers and the hotel and restaurant industry condemned the decision, saying it would adversely affect business.

"Thirty percent of white spirits is consumed by people under 25," said Deepak Roy, vice-chairman and chief executive of Allied Blenders and Distillers (ABD), which makes the Indian whisky Officer's Choice.

"I do not know what is the rationale of this decision, given that they are allowed to vote at the age of 18," he was quoted as saying by the Economic Times newspaper.

The president and chief executive of Bacardi India, Mahesh Madhavan, also told the financial daily on Thursday that the industry would be hit.

He said: "Two hundred and twenty-two white spirits brands are consumed by people below 25 years. And it is the segment under 25 who spend the most." 

They have already been hit by steep tax increase on foreign-branded liquor and beer manufactured in India.

Youths have also reacted angrily to the Indian government's decision.

21-year-old year old drinker Russell Mascarenhas told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper that the young were already agitated because of the increase in liquor prices. He said: "The majority of people who go out are young and under 25."

"It's like asking youngsters to stop celebrating."

But Maharashtra's chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, said problem drinking was a social issue and insisted the measures were not an attempt at moral policing.

"Liquor consumption stresses the health system and destroys families," he told reporters.

(Source: AFP)