Hyderabad: Municipalities and nagar panchayats are set to get bars for the first time in Telangana. Presently bars are confined to only municipal corporations. To earn more revenues through licence fees, the TS government is actively considering a proposal to allow bars in municipalities and nagar panchayats.
The liquor lobby had been opposing bars all these years in municipalities and nagar panchayats since they serve liquor by setting up sitting rooms near shops and make profits.
The population required in a particular area for setting up a bar is also being reduced significantly. The new Excise policy of Telangana is being readied with several modifications.
Though the new policy was supposed to come into force from July 1 this year, it was deferred as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao proposed certain changes in the last minute to increase revenue generation. In this backdrop, the government renewed the licences of all the existing liquor shops and bars till new policy is framed.
Officials now propose to set up a bar for every 15,000 people. If this comes into force, an additional 117 bars will come up in GHMC limits alone. The government is likely to continue the existing licence fees but relax the population norm.
