In an unprecedented earning for the state of Telangana, the state Excise Department collected Rs 2,639 crore sans selling a single bottle of liquor. The money came from nearly 1.32 lakh applications charging Rs 2 lakh non-refundable application fee each, for the allotment of 2,620 liquor shops. The vends will be picked district-wise through lottery on Monday.
The department has fixed a non-refundable fee of 2 lakh from each applicant. Thus, in a span of 15 days, the department earned a revenue of 2,500 crore, the official said. The Telangana government has virtually raked in moolah (money) by earning more than 2,500 crore in the form of non-refundable fee from applications for new liquor shops for the next two-year period, officials familiar with the matter said.
The application process to operate 2,620 retail liquor outlets in 33 districts of the state for a two-year period (2023-25) began on August 4 and closed by midnight of Friday. “Reports from various districts reaching the state headquarters of Telangana prohibition and excise department in Hyderabad, indicate that the total number of applications at the closure of deadline was a little over 1.25 lakh,” an excise department official privy to the development said. The department has fixed a non-refundable fee of 2 lakh from each applicant. Thus, in a span of 15 days, the department earned a revenue of 2,500 crore, the official said. In 2021, the government received more than 69,000 applications for operating retail liquor shops in the state. This time, the applications crossed 1.25 lakh, which is an all-time high since the formation of Telangana state in 2014. The excise official said the retail liquor shops would be allotted to the dealers through a draw of lots district-wise, which would take place on August 21. The selected dealers would have to pay one-sixth of the annual licence fee by August “The new shops can be opened from December 1, 2023 and can continue till November 30, 2025,” the official said.
The licence fee per annum per shop is in the range of 50 lakh to 1.1 crore per annum depending upon the population of the area. It will be 50 lakh for a population up to 5,000 people, 55 lakh for a population of 5,000-50,000 people, 60 lakh for 50,000-1 lakh people, 65 lakh for 1 lakh to 5 lakh people, 85 lakh for 5 lakh to 20 lakh people, and 1.1 crore for population of above 20 lakh people. “This amount can be paid in six instalments throughout the year. The margin for the liquor traders has been fixed at 27% for ordinary category and 20% for premium category and beer,” he said.
Licences will be issued to 2,620 outlets across the state, including 615 outlets in Hyderabad alone. While the Goud community people, who have traditionally been in the profession of toddy tapping and liquor sale, have been given a 15% reservation in the liquor outlets, 10% of the outlets have been reserved for SCs and 5% have been reserved for the STs.
Though the validity of the current licenses is till November 30, 2023, the tender process has commenced early in August itself in view of the state assembly elections slated at the end of this year, the official added.