Govt to come up with policy to regulate and promote wine making in Meghalaya

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaDecember 6, 2019

SHILLONG: The state government has decided to come up with a policy to regulate and promote wine making in the state.

This was announced by the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma at the first edition of the North east food show, which concluded here on Friday.

Sangma told the gathering that the home made wines from Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh made their debut in the food show and had attracted a lot of interest.

“After seeing the kind of response the home made wines are getting, the state government has decided to come up with a policy very soon to make sure that we not only regulate but to promote the wines that are locally made by our people here,” he said.

The chief minister also assured that the policy will be ready within the next one month.

According to him, it will also ensure that the farmers are also involved in the process and the demand for their products will also go up.

“So it is a win-win situation for the farmers and for the entrepreneurs and also for wine lovers,” he added.

It may be mentioned here that the Meghalaya Association of Wine Makers (MMAW) has been demanding the state government to legalize wine making for the past 17 years.

President of the association, Michael Syiem had said there are many people who are into wine making and now the ball is in the court of the government to legalize wine making and make it into an industry.

“If legalized, wine making will go a long way to boost horticulture, employment opportunity to educated unemployed youths and also revenue to the state government,” he said.