Latest News | Lowering of Legal Drinking Age to 21 Years Progressive and Pragmatic: NRAI

New Delhi, Mar 22 (PTI) Industry body National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) on Monday welcomed the decision of the Delhi government to lower the minimum age for consumption of liquor to 21 years from 25 years.

Lowering the legal drinking age (LDA) to 21 is both progressive as well as pragmatic. It will reduce illegal or closet consumption and will also expand the consumer base significantly, thus benefiting the businesses as well as the exchequer, NRAI President Anurag Katriar said in a statement.

"While we await the formal release of the detailed policy document, we are very hopeful that they will be very progressive and will significantly change the way Delhi looks at the business of bars," he added.

Katriar further said that he sincerely hopes that other states in India will follow suit soon and make necessary amendments to archaic provisions in their excise laws, which have lost their relevance with the passage of time.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)