Hungry at night? You can soon head to 24x7 eatery at nearby Delhi metro station

NEW DELHI: You may soon find a number of high-end eating joints operational round-the-clock at your nearest metro station or a bus terminal. To promote Delhi’s nightlife, govt agencies have started giving licences to restaurants and food chains to remain open 24x7. These restaurants will operate at transport hubs and starred hotels in the city.
According to officials, the decision to grant licences to eateries to run round the clock at five and four-star hotels, and within the airport, railway stations, metro stations and ISBT premises after payment of an additional fee was taken last year at the initiation of LG VK Saxena.Some of them will even serve liquor but the bar would close at 1am, the time fixed by the excise department. Food, however, will remain available 24x7.

Sources said a number of applications were received and the process to grant licences has started. The number of documents required for getting the licences has also been reduced drastically to ensure ease of doing business. Officials added that 140 fields have been removed from the common application form, making it user friendly and the 21-page form has been reduced to just nine.
Instead of multiple separate affidavits now, a single common undertaking has been introduced. Instead of the earlier system of granting licence for just one year, the validity period has been increased to three years for MCD, Delhi Police and Delhi Fire Service approval and nine years for DPCC.
Sources added that the granting of licence has been made time-bound, with a “deemed approved” clause being introduced to ensure the application is disposed of within a time frame.
“These are far reaching changes that will give a much-needed boost to the ‘night-time economy’, will ensure more employment and economic activity in the city and ensure that entrepreneurs who are losing business to NCR due to an archaic and restrictive licencing regime, retain and augment their clientele and benefit financially,” a Raj Niwas official said.
Restaurateur Priyank Sukhija, who has outlets at Aerocity and has recently opened one at Epicuria at Nehru Place metro station, welcomed the decision and said the permission couldn’t have come at a better time.
Sukhija said that all the existing outlets and those expected to open soon in such areas will benefit from the decision and will make Delhi’s nightlife scene vibrant. “This is a positive decision for the city. It needs to be celebrated and highlighted so that diners get to know that they can dine till late in their neighbourhood. It will make dining out safer,” he said.
Restaurateur Akshay Anand, who has a new concept restaurant coming up at Nehru Place, explained that people in Delhi head out late due to late work hours. He says diners, moviegoers or travellers will have quality options open till late in their neighbourhood than having to drive far.
A restaurateur, however, added that the excise licences should also be included in this “Excise licences will mean added revenue for the city and safe drinking zones for residents,” he said.