Gurugram : Neeraj Sachdeva’s world of affluence is divided into two hemispheres. On weekends, he tees off at Gurugram’s exclusive DLF Golf Club, often sharing the greens with the likes of cricket legends Kapil Dev and Yuvraj Singh. But come Monday, he’s back at his Sector 18 office, steering the growth of his liquor empire, Lakeforest Wines, now virtually a household name across Delhi-NCR.
But 55-year-old Sachdeva is no ordinary booze baron—he’s the first mover behind Gurugram’s transformation into Delhi-NCR’s liquor mecca. Selling everything from Red Label to Chilean reds to Japan’s Suntory Whisky Toki, shiny, mall-like chain outlets have become a symbol of the city’s pride and identity. In Haryana, a state where alcohol was banned between 1996 and 1998 and the market was long confined to dingy shops, Sachdeva returned from the US in 2004 with a vision to reshape how alcohol was sold, seen, and savoured in Gurugram—and pulled it off.
Today, he’s not just a local player; he’s one of India’s biggest importers of wine – the quintessential drink of the wealthy. “I always had confidence in myself that I would make it very big. I always wanted to make a lot of money,” Sachdeva said, seated in his plush office, surrounded by shelves of top-selling wine bottles.
A certified sommelier, Sachdeva ran a successful wine business in California before he decided to return to India 18 years ago, when the liquor market was dominated by barons like Ponty Chadha.