Telangana in high spirits after state’s first liquor bid

Hyderabad: In a move expected to fetch higher revenues when compared to previous years through liquor licensing, the Telangana excise department allocated nearly all the shops in the state through draw of lots on Monday.

“Of the total 2,216 outlets spread across 10 districts about 2,025 outlets have been allocated,” said excise commissioner Ahmed Nadeem.

The revenue collected from the allotment amounts to Rs 934 crore, an Rs 20 crore increase over last year’s collections.

The government is targeting excise revenue of Rs 10,500 crore, a 10 percent increase over last year. The government is expected to call a notification in the coming days to allocate the remaining 191 unallocated shops. This year’s exercise has been quite successful as the numbers of shops allocated was higher than the last year during the first round, said the excise commissioner.

“About 369 shops were left unallocated last year. This year the number is less. In the further rounds of auctioning, we will work on reducing the number,” added Mr Nadeem.

Out of the 191 shops, which found no takers on Monday, 136 are in GHMC limits. The government’s reduction of license fee by Rs 14 lakh in areas with population greater than 20 lakh has resulted in more takers for outlets. In the last financial year, 175 shops remained unallocated.