the airport and midway between gurugram and delhi it is the most preferred option for those looking to meet up over a drink said sharad batra coowner of the caf delhi heights chain of restaurantsthe ahata challengewhats further driving away beer drinkers from bars and breweries are ahatas or anumat kaksh as the excise policy calls them which offer a much cheaper alternative they were originally proposed to put a stop to the nuisance caused by people drinking alcohol at liquor vends the policy said in order to prevent rowdy and drunken behaviour in public one anumat kaksh with each retail vend may be allowed it added that anumat kaksh would find space where hsiidc haryana state industrial and infrastructure development corporation has developed industrial model townships and themespecialised parks like imt manesar imt bawal imt rohtak it park manesar and it park panchkulahowever the ahatas claims singh are deviating from regulations laid down by the state government he said most of them had turned into nothing less than fullfledged restaurants or pubs offering almost all the services with the added advantage of significantly cheaper alcoholall of them are in the open on green belts without any pucca floors and any passerby can see their interiors which are against the guidelines he said these correspondents also observed those violations while visiting a few ahatas in the citynrai said it has raised the issue several times with the state government and again at a meeting with industry members and excise secretary anurag rastogi earlier this month consequently the excise department shut down three ahatas for violating normsa taxing affairfor the citys pub and microbrewery owners its a double whammy considering the contrast with other states when it comes to tax slabs for instance in haryana vat value added tax is 189 and there is no provision for claiming input tax credit on liquor sold in restaurants compare this to up which has no vat or delhi which does have a higher 20 vat but allows input tax creditadditionally higher costs have not exactly ensured a good supply of many international brands which remains erratic in the city due to the monopolistic nature of the market in gurugram the supply is quite unreliable and the prices are impacted said a bar owner requesting anonymityin 2018 pub and bar owners in the state had moved the punjab and haryana high court against the governments decision to issue the licence for sale of liquor in the state to a single vendor thereby making it a monopolistic market the policy was later changed but pub and bar owners allege that the changes are mostly on paper they now have their hopes pinned on the new excise policy that is set to be launched next month