IANS

New Delhi, Nov 15: A group of MPs on Wednesday made a forceful plea for serving low-alcohol drinks like wine and beer on domestic flights.

Some MPs, attending a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee on civil aviation, asked the ministry to push this proposal, informed sources said.

Currently India's archaic rules do not allow serving alcohol on domestic flights.

The sources said Congress MP Rajiv Shukla suggested that the rules should be changed to allow serving of Indian-made beer and wine on domestic flights.

"It will help Maharashtra's vineyards," he is believed to have said. Vineyards in Maharashtra's Sahyadri valley near Nagpur are the main suppliers of grapes that are the staple of Indian wines.

The MPs who supported Shukla's demand included M.S. Gill and Tarlochan Singh, the sources said.

Alcohol can be served on Air India's international flights. Spirits were earlier allowed on domestic flights. These were banned after several instances of drunken in-flight brawls.

Private airlines like Kingfisher Airlines have recently been lobbying for permission to serve liquor on domestic flights. The UB group, which owns Kingfisher Airlines, is also the world's third largest producer of spirits.