NEW DELHI: After proposing to bring down the drinking age in Delhi, tourism minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday said he was in support of restaurants remaining open beyond the current deadline of 1am. He was responding to recommendations by the National Restaurant Association of India ( NRAI ) to improve tourism in the capital, which included a revival of the night bazaar in Chandni Chowk.

“NRAI came to me with this proposal and I am waiting to get it in writing to act on it. However, on the face of it, I believe that extending operating hours will not just benefit the industry but is also essential in the city with several people getting free from work at late hours,” said Mishra. “It will also secure the streets which, right now, are completely desolate at night. We will look into the viability of this recommendation and see how it can be implemented.”

The proposal by NRAI is to extend operating hours of restaurants from 1am to 2.30am on weekends on a trial basis for the first three months.

“The excise licence allows us to serve alcohol till 1am while the police licence also allows us to remain open till 1am. It means that at 1am, the restaurant should be locked with no staff inside. Because of this we are forced to start winding up much sooner,” said Prakul Kumar, secretary general of NRAI. “We have suggested that at least on weekends, we can experiment with this. The agencies concerned can monitor the situation, including law and order, during this time and then make it more permanent.”

The government is also in support of reviving the night bazaar in Chandni Chowk. “I have received representation from shopkeepers that they would like to keep food stalls and small shops open till after market hours. When we say night life, people think clubs and pubs. However, we would also like to encourage the traditional aspect of Old Delhi. We will take a decision on this issue shortly,” said Mishra.

Slamming Mishra’s remarks, BJP vowed to oppose the recommendations. “BJP will never allow lowering of drinking age and promotion of night life in Delhi. Night life will mean freedom to criminals,” BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said.

“The minister wants to promote drinking in Delhi. The effort to bring down drinking age from 25 years to 21 years is a step in this direction. The opening of pubs, dance clubs, bars, restaurants etc till late night will lead to law and order problems. It will only benefit the liquor lobby,” he added.