INDIA. The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) is lobbying government to extend the duty free allowance for spirits and wine, according to local media LiveMint.com (click here for original story).
The current allowance is two litres of spirits or wine per passenger. APAO has written to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee arguing for an extended allowance of two litres of spirits plus two litres of wine.
APAO members include the operators of airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi, which account for 65% of passenger traffic, the report said.
Allowances at rival airports such as Dubai, Singapore and Colombo are higher, APAO said.
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“To be in competition with some of these tourist-friendly countries it would be appropriate for the government of India to allow duty free import of two litres of liquor plus two litres of wine in India, provided the articles are purchased only at Indian duty free shops,” APAO Secretary General Satyan Nayar wrote in a recent letter reviewed by LiveMint.
In an interesting aside the report said that the average amount spent by Indian travellers per trip has risen +32% from US$903 in 2006 to US$1,200 in 2009, according to APAO. Yet only 3% of this, or around US$35, is spent at Indian duty free shops, it said.
The airports also want the duty free allowance doubled to IR50,000 from IR25,000.
“This would also help the country to retain the foreign exchange which the traveller would otherwise spend abroad,” Nayar said. “This is not happening because the traveller is unable to do most of his shopping on arrival as his shopping basket already exceeds the duty free allowance of IR25,000.”
A rise in the allowance would encourage travellers to do “most of their duty free shopping on arrival in India”.
