Supreme Court Does Its Bit To Sober Up Drivers On Highways
Liquor stocks took a fall right after the announcement, with Globus Spirits falling 7 %.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur banned all liquor shops on state and national highways. The ruling said all liquor shops will have to be at least of 500 meters away from the highways, and any signage regarding its presence has also been prohibited.
While the ban on new liquor store licenses on highways, comes into effect immediately, existing stores can sell alcohol till March 31, 2017, or till their license expires, which ever is earlier. Existing licenses can not be renewed.
Concerned about the over 1.5 lakh fatalities in road mishaps every year, the Supreme Court had on December 7, indicated its intent to close all liquor stores on national and state highways.
Stocks of liquor companies dropped right after the ruling, with Globus Spirits Ltd. falling as much as 7 percent to Rs 90. United Spirits Ltd. fell 1.7 percent to Rs 1,904 before recovering, while United Breweries continued to traded at 1.1 percent lower at Rs 820 as of 11:30 a.m.
Here are some other stocks that reacted to the ruling.
- Radico Khaitan (-3.1% to Rs 115)
- Pincon Spirits (-2.5% to Rs 60.5)
- Empee Distilleries (-3.9% to Rs 56)
- Pioneer Distilleries (-3.7% to Rs 192)
- Som Distilleries (-4% to Rs 132)