Did you know that Bengaluru is the talk of the country to be a RS 6,00,000 crores F&B industry hub? Back in 1980s, Bengaluru was a sleepy little town which is now headed to repeat the history.. And the reason? – Corruption!
The Past vs the Present story
Entrepreneur Ashok Sadhwani had started the Pub story of Bengaluru in the late 20th century. He opened three amazing places for the Bengaluru crowd – The Pub, Pub World and restobar called Couch. However, here we are in 2019 and all three of them have closed. On top of that, Mr. Sadhwani who started the city’s Pub journey has decided to not enter the market again. He’ll actually prefer no liqueur, a restaurant only chains from now one.
What has led to this?
Well, for now, the owners need 36 approvals, yes, 36 to open one outlet. The Business was already a headache with new government rules and regulations rolling out time to time. First came the National Highway ban. Then they had the no party after 11.30pm ban and forced purchase of liquor in high quantities that may not be required. Also, the no live music ban created problems for a lot of owners. All this culminated to the disinterest of people in the Pub business of the city which was a market leader before.
Oh wait, there is more..
A lot of data from unnamed restaurants portrays how the existence of outdated licensing and corruption has led to this situation. A source even confirmed that a bribe of Rs 70 lakh was paid by him to start his microbrewery.
Well, all of this lead to a very high cost for entrepreneurs. They tend to keep aside money as monthly payments to officials for smooth running and avoiding chaos. They also bear costs for the approvals and Occupancy certificates.
Well, schemes like the Sakala scheme have eased the whole process as it ensures approval within ab stipulated time. However, for the city and it’s F&B industry to thrive, there has to be some change.
One can only wonder what that would be!
