25 restaurants surrender their excise licences in Gurgaon

After the Supreme Court direction banning liquor sale in hotels/pub/bars within 500 metres of state and national highway, 25 bar and pub owners surrendered their licences in Gurgaon. A few days ago, some pubs and bars had shut their outlets in Sector 29 and CyberHub because of falling sales.

The fine dining restaurants that shut shop said people prefer going to pub/bars and breweries these days. Despite having all facilities, they could not survive and had to shut their operations after the December 15 Supreme Court ban.

“The footfall has decreased at the restaurant, these days people prefer going to pubs only. The family dining scene is almost over. The industry is suffering the most at the moment and if this continues for another 15 days, many more outlets will be forced to down their shutters,” said Amit R Sabharwaal, director of Sublym Kitchen and Bar in Sector 29 that wound up operations recently.

Restaurant Diwan and Talli Singh in Sector 29, who closed their operation on March 20, said they are shifting to Vasant Vihar in Delhi as most of the crowd visiting the hub prefers brewery.

“The closing of microbreweries in the city has hit the restaurant business hard. The sales have dipped to a large extent and, after the ban, many are suffering huge losses. Ours was a threeand-half-year-old establishment and we were doing fine, but the recent order created panic and being patient for long in this industry would not help,” said Kapil Singh Thapa, vice president, Diwan Restaurant.

“We have to comply with the SC order and will measure the distance . If anyone doubts that their establishment is within the 500-metre zone, we will remeasure it,” said HC Dahiya, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (west).