• The Industries (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 7, 2015. The Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman. The Bill amends the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951.

  • The 1951 Act provides for development and regulation of certain industries including metallurgical, telecommunications, transportation, fermentation (which includes production of alcohol) among others.

  • The 1st schedule of the Act includes all industries that are regulated under the Act. The Bill amends the schedule to exclude production of alcohol for potable purposes from the ambit of the Act.

  • The Supreme Court of India in its judgement on January 20, 1997, demarcated the regulation of production of alcohol between centre and states (Bihar Distillery and another vs. Union of India and others). The court ruled that centre should regulate the production of alcohol for industrial use and states should regulate the production of alcohol for potable purpose (domestic consumption). The Bill conforms to the Supreme Court’s decision.