The Excise Department has successfully completed the allotment of more than 2,100 out of the 2,216 liquor shops notified for the Excise year 2017-19.
The process for allotting little over 100 shops in the tribal areas has been progressing slowly as the department had to fulfil certain formalities before allotting the shops to prospective applicants there. Senior officials said that formalities related to allotment of over 40 shops had been completed and the process in respect of the remaining will be completed at the earliest.
The allotment of liquor shops went off peacefully as the collectors of the respective districts supervised the draw of lots through which the applicants were selected. All but one of the 183 shops in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation areas had been allotted to the applicants. This fetched Government around ₹ 200 crore.
One shop in Ameerpet area could not be allotted as the lone applicant for the outlet was allotted a shop elsewhere. “Notification for the shop will be issued afresh. Notification for one outlet at Ghatkesar, which had no takers, has been issued and a notification for the shop in Ameerpet will be issued soon,” a senior official said. The Government had collected earnest money deposit of ₹ 5 lakh from the applicants and this would be adjusted with the annual licence fee that would be paid in four equal instalments.
The department is likely to raise close to ₹1,400 crore through the licence fee and a quarter of the proceeds amounting to ₹300 crore to ₹350 crore had been collected on Friday. Revenue Department (excise and commercial taxes) Secretary Somesh Kumar said that the process had been completed without any hitch and the Department had formulated clear guidelines without giving scope for any lapses and the processes had been streamlined to ensure that the allotment was done smoothly.
The department would now focus its attention on formulating fresh guidelines for setting up bars in rural and urban areas across the State.
