The Sampadak Express News Desk
Kerala’s Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government on Sunday moved to contain a political row by revoking an Excise Department order that had allowed a bakery in Chalakudy, Thrissur, to stock and sell hortiwine, a 15% proof beverage made from non-grain agricultural produce.
Officials told The Hindu that Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan had raised objections to the “unconsulted” order, which enabled the bakery to purchase several cases of hortiwine from the Kerala State Beverages Corporation’s (Bevco) bonded warehouse for off-the-shelf sales ahead of the Christmas–New Year season. The move, they said, risked unregulated underage drinking and blindsided the administration as it reworked the State’s liquor policy.
Excise Minister M. Liju subsequently revoked the licence and sought a report from the Excise Commissioner. He told reporters the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration had amended the Foreign Liquor Rules in January 2024 to permit bakeries, supermarkets and shopping malls to display and sell hortiwine on payment of an annual licence fee.
“On the face of it, the Excise Department had issued the licence as per the prevalent rules. However, the decision prima facie infringed on the government’s prerogative to frame policy. The government has taken a serious view of the faux pas,” Mr. Liju said.
Former Excise Minister and CPI(M) State secretariat member M.B. Rajesh criticised the UDF’s reversal as “a political stunt to draw applause and a sign of administrative dysfunction bedevilling the UDF.” He said the LDF government had introduced the Kerala Small Scale Winery Rules in 2022 to legalise hortiwine production as a value-added product to improve farm-gate prices for jackfruit, banana, pineapple, mango and tender coconut. The subsequent January 2024 rule change allowed bakeries to stock and sell hortiwine, he added.
“However, the LDF government did not issue a single licence to enable the sale of hortiwine through outlets without a foreign liquor retail licence, given the social sensitivities involved,” Mr. Rajesh said.
The episode follows an earlier controversy in June 2026, when the UDF government’s Budget backed sales of low-proof “alcopops” — fruit-flavoured ready-to-drink beverages with a small alcohol content. The proposal drew criticism from Church and Muslim social organisations, while Congress leader and prohibitionist activist V.M. Sudheeran publicly demanded a rollback. Several Left-leaning toddy workers’ unions also objected, arguing that alcopop sales would imperil the already struggling traditional sector.
Mr. Liju said he had rescinded the bakery’s licence and asked the Excise Commissioner for a detailed report.
