mumbai you will soon be able to walk into a supermarket and walk out with a bottle of wine the maharashtra government has finally given the goahead to retailers to sell wine a move that is expected to provide amajor boost to the fledgling retail industryconfirming the news a government source said a formal notification to this effect was issued by the state excise department last week retailers have for long clamoured for wine to be treated as different from other alcoholic beverages due to its comparatively lower alcohol content and health benefits if consumed in moderationin factncp chief andunion agriculture minister sharad pawar recently created a stir when he argued in favour of wine being sold alongside soft drinks and other food productsaccording to sources the state government has extended existing legislation to enable supermarkets andmodern format retailers to sell wine the legislation e2 licenceallows retail outlets to sell beer if they have the requisite beer permithowever the scheme didnt find much favour because selling only beer didnot make economic sense if the licence fee was factored in an industry source noted that the realmargins lay in liquor and spiritsnowwith the government bringing wines too under the concession a big rush can be expected for the permit retailers interested in selling winemust fill up an e2 application form the yearly licence fee is estimated to be 25 of that for a standard liquor permit inmumbai the liquor licence fee varies between rs 3 lakh and 35 lakh depending on the population coveredwhile the indian wine market is still minuscule at about rs 300 crore it isgrowing at a healthy 2530each yearwith wine becoming popular especially in urban centres making it freely available is expected to boost sales significantly for producers like sula grover and chateau indagein the uk about 70 of wine is sold by supermarket chains like tesco sainsburys asda and morrisons which offer consumers discounts and special deals in india bangalore and chandigarh are the only cities where wine is available off the shelf in supermarkets