New brands to greet liquor lovers from 16 October

New liquor shops in Andhra Pradesh, including Visakhapatnam, will open on October 16 as the new liquor policy, which was approved by the State Cabinet recently, will come into effect on the day.

According to a notification issued by the Excise Department, the last date for submission of applications has been extended for two days. Now the applications will be received by 11 October. Though the last date for receiving applications was 9 October, it has been extended following requests by applicants.

Licences for liquor shops will be finalised through a draw of lots on 14 October and those given licences can open shops from 16 October. As many as 41,348 applications were received as of 8 October, while the number of licences to be issued is 3,396 in the State.

The Excise Department has netted an income of Rs 826 crore towards non-refundable licence fees. With the extension of the last date, more applications are likely to be received in these two days, according to the Excise personnel.

In the districts of Tirupati, Visakhapatnam, Nellore, Anakapalle, Anantapur and Nandyal, the number of applications received was less when compared to the shops notified.

Alleging the liquor sold during the tenure of the previous government was poor in quality and substandard, the alliance government has come out with a new liquor policy eying a revenue generation of Rs 2,000 crore every year. The State Cabinet at its meeting on 18 September approved the new liquor policy offering new brands to liquor lovers.

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This article is written by Senior Journalist Lakkoju Nagesh Babu