Telangana nod for 145 new bars

Hyderabad: For tipplers, it’s time to cheer. More bars are coming up in the twin cities. The TS government has unveiled plans to allow 145 new bars across the state, of which 88 will be in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.

The TS excise department on Friday called for applications for these new bars. The applicants can select the premises beyond 220 metres from national and state highways where the population of the notified area is below 20,000, and can have them beyond 500 meters from national and state highways in other places.

The application fee is Rs1 lakh which is not refundable and license fee Rs 40 lakh. At present, there are about 1,400 bars across the state while in GHMC limits the number is 150. In the twin cities, some bars had been closed by licensees saying they were not profitable.  

In the notification issued here, the government did not mention which are the national highways and which the state highways.

The wine dealers have objected to this, saying due to this confusion the applicant may lose the Rs 1 lakh application fee.

The Telangana wine dealers association representative said, “Suppose someone applies for a bar at one place and pay a '1 lakh fee. The officials may deny permission on the ground it is not beyond 500 metres from the national or state highway. This way, the applicant will lose the licence fee.”

He said the notification should have made it clear which are national and state highways in respect to GHMC. Regarding districts, the notification was clear as to how many new bars will come up in which district, municipal corporation, municipality and nagar panchayat, he said.

The Telangana wine dealers’ association president D Venkateswar Rao said that the new bars will have no effect on liquor sales in the wine shops. At present, the state government allows permit room in every wine shop.

On average, the liquor business in the bars in the districts is of '50,000 to '75,000 a day, and sales in wine shops are of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

In GHMC limits, the average liquor business in bars is between Rs 75 000 and Rs1 lakh, and in wine shops Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh.