For the first time, Haryana has introduced e-tendering for allotment of liquor retail outlets in the State. It has also banned sale of liquor in villages where schools for girls or Kanya Gurukul are located.
These provisions have been made by the Haryana Government in its excise policy for the financial year 2015-16 which was approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday.
Announcing the decisions, Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu said e-tendering has been introduced to do away with any kind of influence in the grant of liquor licences. “Online tenders will be floated and the process would be completely computerised, doing away with any interference and ensuring that the highest bidder gets the licence,” he said, adding that the move would also shore up the State’s revenue. The government has also increased the minimum sale price of liquor.
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The Minister said the Government was expected to generate a revenue of about Rs. 3,700 crore this year under the existing excise policy. In 2015-16, he said, it was likely to achieve the same target despite closing down of the vends on highways.
To check liquor theft, he said online record would be maintained of every bottle and live recording through CCTV cameras would be started in the office of Excise and Taxation Commissioner right from the distilleries.
He said it has also been decided that liquor vends will not be opened in villages where the panchayats are opposed to them.
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Haryana has also increased the fee for bar licence which had stagnated at Rs 6 lakh for the past eight years by increasing it to Rs. 12.5 lakh in Gurgaon, Rs.10 lakh in Faridabad and Rs.7.5 lakh for other districts.
Mr Abhimanyu said while participation fee for the bidders has been reduced from Rs. 25,000 per vend to Rs. 10,000 per vend to encourage participation, the percentage of fixed quota of country liquor has been enhanced from 25 per cent to 40 per cent to be equally divided amongst all the 13 distilleries in the State.
In the new Excise Policy, the maximum basic quota of country liquor has been maintained at 900 lakh litre and of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) at 500 lakh litre. However, the maximum number of retail outlets has been kept at the same level of 3,500 as in the year 2014-15.
For the purpose of allotment, the vends will be clubbed into groups comprising a maximum number of three vends of either country liquor or IMFL.
Sale of liquor banned in villages where schools for girls are located