India backtracks on tighter duty free limits

The Asia Pacific Travel Retail Association (APTRA) has welcomed the Indian government’s decision not to reduce the amount of alcohol travellers can bring into the country.

Indian travellers will still be able to purchase two litres of duty free spirits

The Indian government alluded to plans to restrict duty free shopping and had suggested cutting the volume of liquor that travellers could bring into India when returning from abroad.

However, during India’s Union Budget 2020 the government elected to maintain the current limit of two litres per person, rather than cutting it to one litre per passenger.

Following the announcement, Grant Fleming, president of APTRA, said: “We are pleased that no reductions were made to the duty free allowance in India’s Union Budget 2020, announced 1 February 2020. We are grateful for the support of APTRA members in India bringing vital knowledge and local insight to the table.

“Additionally, working alongside the Association of Private Airport Operators (India) as well as Airports Council International enabled a timely representation back to the relevant government bodies.

“We also obtained further support as part of a broader industry approach that included fellow associations, DFWC [Duty Free World Council] and ETRC [European Travel Retail Confederation].

“We’ll keep a close eye on the situation going forward, working with our members in the region to continue the connection we have established with the Indian government regulators.

“A key objective for us is to engage them with the unique dynamics of the travel retail market and the valuable contribution it makes to airport infrastructure and to GDP [gross domestic product], especially in emerging economies like India.”