Andhra Pradesh government which is set to bring new excise policy sometime in October, is considering to run wine shops only till 6 PM. This is as part of their strategy to completely ban sales of liquor in the state which is also a promise made by AP CM YS Jagan during the election campaign.
However as things don’t happen overnight, the YSRCP government wants to bring down the sales initially and then eventually abolish it. Currently wine shops are running from 10 AM to 10 PM all over the state. Sales after 6 PM pick up a lot and so the new excise policy might target this prime time. The other aspect of this policy is to reduce the number of liquor brands. As of today, there are about 340 brands producing different flavours of liquor and a study suggested that many brands don’t register proper sales.
But this strategy has many complications too. First is, the government will lose a chunk of revenue and they should also keep in mind that AP is going through severe financial stress.
The second is as the government is planning to run wine shops on its own instead of handing over to private persons. This could lead to the rise of black market and it will put additional burden on the excise department and officials. This policy is still under thoughtfulness and has a long way to go.
For now Jagan has ordered a closure of all belt shops in the state and excise officials are busy following the CM’s orders.
