Hyderabad: Cheers! Neera Café to roll up shutters today

Hyderabad : The much-awaited Neera Cafe, a destination that is bound to attract the lovers of the natural extract derived from palm trees, is set to open to the public on Wednesday. The cafe, built by the State government at a cost of Rs 13 crore and located at Necklace Road, will be inaugurated by Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud.

The government has introduced the Neera Policy ambitiously, aimed at the development and welfare of toddy tappers in the State. One of the significant milestones in this policy was to obtain the essential certification of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) license to manufacture, pack, and sell Neera, its by-products, jaggery, sugar, Neera syrups, and others. Recently, the product received its license from FSSAI.

The Neera Cafe faced some controversy regarding its name, Vedamrutam. Several Brahmin associations opposed the name, claiming that it was insulting Vedas. However, the Goud community supported the move of the government, justifying it is based on the importance of health. Countering the claims made by these associations, V Srinivas Goud clarified that the government did not intend to hurt the sentiments of any community. The government named it after reading Vedas, where it is mentioned that Neera had medicinal qualities. According to him, the name was suggested by some students who had completed their PhDs after studying Vedas. Recognising the value of the product, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao brought a policy on Neera, added Goud.