Telangana Earns Rs 2,900 Crore From Liquor Shop Applications
The department has received nearly one lakh applications when the deadline ended on Thursday
Hyderabad:The prohibition and excise department has generated at least Rs 2,900 crore in revenue through application fees, after collecting a non-refundable fee of Rs 3 lakh for each liquor shop application. The department has received nearly one lakh applications when the deadline ended on Thursday.
On the final day, long queues were seen at counters set up across all district headquarters and excise police limits, including the state headquarters in Nampally. Women participated in the process, with many offering prayers on the occasion of Karthika Masam before submitting their applications.
A woman applicant, Naga Keerthana, who filed an application on behalf of her family, said, “We offered prayers during Karthika Masam and submitted the application after seeking divine blessings.”
By 10.30 pm, officials were still receiving applications at various counters. As per late-night updates, 95,285 applications were received, generating `2,900 crore in revenue.
The excise department had issued a notification to grant licenses for 2,620 A4 liquor shops across 34 excise districts in the state. Following the extension of the last date to October 23, applicants from neighbouring states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Odisha — also submitted their forms on the final day.
While the department received only about 1,000 applications during the two days preceding the deadline, there was a massive surge in applications on the last day.
Sources said that districts such as Shamshabad, Medchal, Secunderabad, and Nalgonda recorded the highest number of applications. Officials added that the process of receiving applications continued late into the night across the state.
