By NE NOW NEWS
Guwahati: The Assam government has reserved the manufacturing rights of traditional heritage alcoholic beverages exclusively for their respective indigenous and tribal communities under the Assam Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2026.
The amended rules, notified by the Assam Commissionerate of Excise and published in the Assam Gazette on June 12, aim to protect traditional beverages from commercial exploitation and preserve their cultural authenticity.
Announcing the decision after a Cabinet meeting on Saturday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the move was prompted by the emergence of commercial entities producing and marketing traditional brews associated with indigenous communities.
“Some commercial companies have started manufacturing and selling traditional heritage alcoholic beverages made by Assam’s indigenous groups, such as xaj and rohi. We have decided that such business can be carried out only by the respective indigenous communities,” Sarma said.
The Chief Minister said community-specific beverages should remain with the communities that traditionally produce them. He cited xaj, rohi and laupani as examples, adding that no community would be allowed to manufacture another community’s traditional brew.
Sarma also stressed the need to preserve the authenticity of traditional beverages, referring to judima, the traditional brew of the Dimasa community. He said the original character of such products could be compromised if they were manufactured outside their traditional cultural context.
Under the amended rules, licences for manufacturing heritage alcoholic beverages will be granted exclusively to local indigenous individuals or groups belonging to the respective tribal or ethnic communities.
The notification also eases licensing requirements for heritage liquor producers. The application fee for a heritage liquor micro-manufactory has been reduced from Rs 25,000 to Rs 15,000, while the retail vend licence fee has been lowered from Rs 5,000 to Rs 500. Production under the micro-manufactory category has been capped at 1,000 litres per day.
The amendment further introduces a new category, “Assam Made Liquor” (AML), with an alcohol strength of 17.12 per cent v/v (70° UP). The application fee for an AML manufacturing licence has been fixed at Rs 1 lakh, while the vend licence fee has been set at Rs 50,000.
According to the Gazette notification, heritage alcoholic beverages are defined as drinks made from fermented grains or fruits using traditional starter cakes and containing not more than 12 per cent alcohol by volume.