Ashok Hotel in Delhi sets up a duty-paid shop where one can get everything that is on offer at duty-free shops

Manika Gupta

Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) has set up a duty-paid shop called Brands Inc. While the first shop has been set up at the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, some more are expected to come up at other hotel properties all over the country.

The venture aims at providing exclusive duty paid goods to the residents and visitors. All the world famous brands are there for you to see and buy under one roof.

So you can look forward to the world famous brands like Russ Berry and Hokswell for toys; Lencier, which is an Austrian brand in Jwellery, and Elda Maurice, another famous jewellery brand from Switzerland.
For cosmetics one can have anything from the more pervasive L’Oreal and Givenchy to the less seen Estee Lauder, Davidoff, and Lancaster. The Misaky watches of all types, especially the ones with pearl bracelets and the other more famous Swiss brands like Omega, Tissot, Swatch, Dunhill and Longines are all there for you to pick up. The duty-paid outlet has been given a place of pride in the lobby of the hotel.

The goods are being sourced directly from manufacturers. Explains R C Gupta, vice-president (International Trade Division, ITDC): “We buy in bulk from the duty free shops which makes our prices very competitive”.

There is quality assurance as the products are directly sourced from the manufacturers, which also eliminates the risk of having counterfeit products. Even though other shops in Delhi like Ebony and Shopper’s Stop also claim to be sourcing their products directly from the manufacturers, the products in Brands Inc will be the same as the duty-free shops.