TS to continue with old excise policy for now
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Hyderabad: Bars and liquor shops in Telangana are rushing to renew their licence after the Telangana government decided to continue the old excise policy for now since it is yet to frame a new policy. This exercise has fetched nearly Rs 360 crore to TS government so far. The old excise policy expired on June 30 and the government has to seek fresh applications from bars and liquor shops to grant licences as per revised policy from July 1. However, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao made some specific proposals to be incorporated in the new policy in June and asked officials to study them and submit a report to the government.
The major proposals include ban on gudumba (illicit distilled liquor), reintroduction of cheap liquor (saara) by government in tetra packs, bringing special excise policy for Hyderabad city to allow bars and hotels to operate even after midnight and make accessible foreign and expensive brands in hotels and liquor shops easily. Officials were asked to tour various states to study these aspects and come out with a report on how they can be implemented in Telangana.
But officials sought three months’ time to complete the task and said it’s not possible to tour and submit a report on all these issues before July 1. Following this, Mr Rao asked officials to take three months time and come out with a comprehensive report, so that it could be implemented at least from July 2016. He asked officials to renew the licences of existing bars and liquor shops till the new policy comes into force. It was decided to renew the licence of bars for a year and liquor shops by three months.
“Already, 95 per cent of the existing bars and liquor shops in the state have renewed their licences within five days. Out of 766 bars in the state, nearly 730 have already renewed their licences. Similarly, out of 2,102 liquor shops, nearly 1,990 have renewed,” said an excise official. While bar renewals fetched nearly Rs 233 crore, the liquor shop renewals fetched nearly Rs 127 crore to the government towards fees. The state has decided to invite fresh applications and conduct draw of lots in districts to grant licences wherever the bars and liquor shops do not come forward for renewal.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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