Making western-style hard liquors Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles costlier, the Andhra Pradesh state government
I has made an amendment imposing an additional privilege fee on it. After obtaining approval from the Governor, Excise Principal Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena revealed this fee.
Under the additional privilege fee, the MRP price has been revised by increasing it to the next Rs 10 instead of retail. If the price of a bottle MRP is Rs.150.50 then it will be Rs. 160. Meena said that if the price of a quarter bottle is Rs.90.50, the price will be Rs.100 including APF. As per government orders, the price of a quarter bottle is Rs. 99, he said it will be sold after deducting from Rs 100.
Meanwhile, the deadline for receipt of liquor applications in the state ended at 7.00 pm on Friday. The government received 65,424 applications for a total of 3,396 liquor shops in the state. Through these liquor applications, the government got an income of Rs.1,308 crores.
Most applications have been received in NTR district. 4,839 people have applied for a total of 113 liquor shops in the district. Alluri district received the least number of 869 for 40 shops. Officials explained that 20 applications have been received from the US and Europe.
On the 14th of this month, the officials will draw a lottery for the liquor shops. The new liquor policy will be implemented from the 16th. The previous YCP government sold substandard liquor in government shops for five years and ruined the health of drug addicts. With the high prices, the then government officials poured thousands of crores rupees across the board.
However, the coalition government has recently approved this policy and again issued a notification for the establishment of private liquor shops. Officials are making arrangements to allocate liquor shops through a lottery system.
However, reports are coming out that at several places leaders of both ruling coalition and YCP are colluding, forming into a syndicate and threatening those applied for liquor shops.
Some MLAs have stepped up their efforts threatening applicants that they should be given some share, even if they were not applicants.
They are reportedly negotiating that they will give the investment money as a percentage share under their share. MLAs, their sons and followers are trying to get shares with the syndicate. They are assuring that they will give protection from the government even if they sold liquor violating MRP norms.
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