Andhra govt earns ₹1800 crore through sale of applications for allotment of retail wine shops

The Andhra Pradesh government has received a huge response from liquor dealers for the allotment of retail wine shops, fetching a revenue of ₹1,800 crore to the state excise department in the form of non-refundable application fee, officials familiar with the matter said.

As the deadline for submission of applications for wine shops ended at 7 pm on Friday, the department received a record number of 87,986 applications for operating 3,396 liquor stores in the state notified under the new excise policy. For each application, a non-refundable fee of ₹2 lakh was charged from the prospective dealers.

“However, many others also applied for liquor shops through online mode. Taking them into consideration, the total number of applications touched 89,643, fetching an income of ₹1,792.83 crore to the department. Further details are expected to be gathered from districts and the number of applications might cross 90,000 and the income to the government would touch ₹1,900 crore,” an excise department official said on condition of anonymity.

The excise department had invited applications for liquor shop licences from October 1 to 9. However, the last date was extended to October 11 following requests from interested candidates.

“The applications will be verified on October 12 and 13, while the lottery will be drawn on October 15. The selected candidates can operate the liquor shops from October 16,” the official said.

According to the official data, NTR district received the highest of 5,787 applications for 113 shops, followed by West Godavari with 5,362 applications for 170 shops, and Eluru district with 5,339 applications for 144 shops and 4,297 applications for 127 shops in Guntur district. Alluri Seetharama Raju district received the least number of 1151 applications for 40 shops.

On October 1, the state government issued orders notifying the new liquor policy for the next two years, withdrawing the retail liquor business from the government and entrusting it to private dealers.

The previous YSR Congress Party government led by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had taken over the retail liquor sale from the private dealers and operated the business through AP State Beverages Corporation in the last five years. This policy came to an end on September 30.

In the government order, principal secretary (excise) Mukesh Kumar Meena said the new excise policy will come into effect from October 16 and till then, the government would continue to run the retail liquor business.

“The policy will have a tenure of two years, promoting stability and predictability in the regulatory environment, which is likely to encourage greater participation from retailers,” Meena said in the order.

Under the new policy, the state government has fixed the total number of shops for the licensing period 2024-26 at 3,736, of which 3,396 shops will be in the open category, while 340 shops have been reserved for the toddy tapper community.

“A separate notification and guidelines will be issued for disposal of the 340 shops earmarked for the toddy tapper community and premium stores,” Meena added.