HOW THE BAN ON ALCOHOL SALE ALONG HIGHWAYS WILL AFFECT THE STATES
MAHARASHTRA MAHARASHTRA Nearly 15,699 15,699 liqour outlets shut down in Maharashtra in compliance with the apex court’s order. While retail outlets had to shut shop, permit rooms, clubs and hotels had to stop serving liqour. Maharashtra has a 12-14 per cent share of the total liquor market. The industry contributes nearly Rs Rs 13,000 13,000 crore crore as revenue in the form of excise through the 25,513 liqour vending licencees in the state.
TELANGANA & ANDHRA PRADESH
In Telangana, there are 1,040 liquor shops on highways. About 500 of these are on NH-65 and NH-44. In Andhra Pradesh, there are 1,090 liquor outlets on highways, most of them on the coastal NH-16, and the Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway
KARNATAKA Out of the 10,149 liquor licences issued by the Karnataka Excise Department for liquor stores, bars and hotels, as many as 5,950 licences are with the outlets located within 500 metres of highways — 2,510 wine shops, 1,599 bars, 219 star hotels and 173 clubs
JHARKHAND Of the total 1,432 liquor shops, the state Excise Department has identified at least 670 shops that fall within 500 metres of the highways.
HARYANA The government is likely to lose annual revenue of Rs 100 crore as the state has to close 40 per cent of the total 478 bars located in hotels and restaurants in the state. Most of the bars licensed in Haryana are situated near the highways.
PUNJAB The Excise department has suspended the licences of about 2500 liquor outlets across the state. There are 1,200 hotels within 500 metres from the highways. There are over 10,000 outlets, including 3,000 wedding venues, have been affected.
WEST BENGAL has about 1,800 off-shops within 500 metres of highways, generating a total of over Rs 1,000 crore in revenue for the state. An ‘off shop’ is essentially a retail outlet that just sells liquor. In 2017-18, the government has budgeted excise collections of Rs 5,781.38 crore.
KERALA Around 1,700 liquor vends were forced to shut down. Besides, state-run liquor retailers. Of 5,100 toddy shops, 1,080 are located on the highways. Out of 30 five-star category hotels, 11 have had to suspend liquor bar operations. Among the state’s 34 clubs, 18 cannot operate bars as per the Supreme Court directive.
GUJARAT The state home department has instructed the state’s prohibition department to ‘temporarily’ shut such wine shops operating on highways in the state. A dry state, there were reported to be 56 licensed liquor shops in Gujarat, of which 12 are on highways.