3,149 SHOPS HIT AFTER BAN ON SALE OF LIQUOR ON HIGHWAYS

MUMBAI: Of the 15,000 liquor shops and permit rooms that were shut after the Supreme Court banned liquor sale near national and state highways in 2017, around 20% or 3,149 of them could not resume their business despite the apex court and the state relaxing the norms. This may lead to a revenue loss of ₹500 crore from excise on liquor as most permit rooms operate near highways.

The apex court relaxed the liquor sale ban later in 2017, and eased the distance to 220m for areas with a population of less than 20,000 in a village. For areas with a population of more than 20,000, the distance was still 500m. The restriction was relaxed for denotified highways.

The state further relaxed the norms for tourist places and the areas developed by the MIDC. While most liquor shops and bars resumed their business, 3,149 shops and bars failed to shift their business as they have not been exempted despite the relaxations. “Most of them are permit rooms and shifting to less populated places, and finding new land affects business, which is why these establishments have been unable to swing back into business,” said an excise department official.

Officials said this may lead to a loss of about ₹500 crore or roughly 5% of the annual excise target of ₹15,343 crore.

In the first six months ended on September 31, the department could accumulate about 38% of its revenue target. One of the reasons for this was the failure to restart the shops. Maharashtra has issued 25,173 licences for liquor shops. With the state recently deciding that new liquor shops cannot be opened within a 1km of existing shops, the reopening of the 3,149 shops has become more difficult, said an official. However, the state allows shifting of shops under various conditions.

Meanwhile, excise minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule also said licences that are dormant will be auctioned so the state can earn crores of rupees from revenue as per the current rate.