Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government will take over the liquor business from next Excise year, which begins on July 1 in a bid to earn more money. AP has 4,371 liquor shops, and their licences expire on June 30. The government has decided to adopt the Tamil Nadu model over the one in Kerala, as it gives the government a lot more revenue; in the TN model, the government runs the liquor shops across the state.
Currently, the state government gets revenue from licence fee and VAT on sale of liquor. Explaining the government’s calculation, sources said a dealer who wins a liquor licence in the auction for Rs 50 lakh earns between Rs1 crore and Rs1.50 crore.
If the government runs the same shop, it may lose the '50 lakh license fee but would pocket the earnings of up to Rs1.50 crore from the same shop. Finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said the government would appoint two agents to each shop, who will be paid commission according to liquor sales. The Beverages Corporation will supply liquor directly to the outlets. He said bars will continue in the new Excise policy.
The AP government had projected Rs 4,026 crore as earnings from liquor in the 2014-15 Budget.The TN government earned Rs 21,641 crore in 2013-14, while undivided AP got Rs 7,500 crore in the same period. From June 2, the date of bifurcation, to December 2014, Excise revenue was Rs 2,810 against the target of Rs 2,791 crore.
