Two thousand cases with 24 pint-beers in each, 500 cases of Breezers each and 700 cases holding 12 wine bottles each. This is the alcohol stock currently housed at Bar Stock Exchange, Mumbai's modest priced bar. The beer will cross its expiry date first, followed by wine and then the Breezers.

While some of the city's restaurants function at between five and 10 per cent capacity, exclusively through deliveries, their alcohol stocks lie unused. Additional stocks are stuck at Mumbai's port, and the clock is only ticking. "Imported beer stocks will expire in six months, for which we have already paid excise duty," says Mihir Desai, co-owner Bar Stock Exchange and Bar Bank. Key players like him hope that the government considers liquidating perishable stocks given that the opening of F&B establishments is nowhere on the horizon. "Restaurants in Maharashtra have more than half a million litre of beer for which the duties and taxes have been paid. It will have to be drained if it can't be consumed before expiry. Why not allow us to retail the stock directly to consumers, taking care of our problem while also addressing the issue of queues outside wine shops by reducing the wait time for customers," Desai suggests.