Telangana retail liquor outlets application fee to be hiked by ₹1 lakh; 2,620 shops attracted 98,958 applications last time

Telangana government has decided to tap the Excise department for raising resources to meet its immediate commitments in view of the slow pace of growth in revenues.

The government has resolved to raise the application fee for retail liquor outlets from ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh the next excise year starting December 1 this year. An Excise year stretches from December to next year November end. It, however, did not raise the licence period for the outlets and it continues to be two years from the commencement of the excise year.

Decision to this effect was taken during the Cabinet meeting held recently wherein the Council of Ministers ratified the proposal to raise the application fee and the government is likely to announce the new liquor policy soon. The government has, however, resolved against increasing the number of retail outlets which continues to remain at 2,620 across the State. “Increase in retail outlets can result in public outcry that the government is promoting liquor consumption. Hence, it has been decided to retain their number at 2,620,” a senior official told The Hindu.

The development assumes significance as the revenue from the State Excise duties at the end of the April-June quarter was ₹4,595.41 crore, just 16.64% of the ₹27,623 crore projected for the fiscal in the budget estimates. The enhancement of application fee is likely to result in significant increase in the revenue as the fee is non-refundable.

Previous auction in 2023

The previous auction of retail liquor outlets conducted by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in 2023 — few months ahead of the scheduled time — witnessed filing of 98,958 applications with more than 40 applications being filed for each shop.

₹2,000 crore revenue in last auction

The exercise fetched close to ₹2,000 crore at the time when the fee was ₹2 lakh per each application. A major chunk of the applications were received from the city and its surroundings with Shamshabad reporting the highest number of 8,409 applications followed by Saroornagar 8,263 and Nalgonda 6,134.

Given the magnitude of the applications from these areas, revenue from the non-refundable application fee is expected to be around ₹1,000 crore higher this time if the aspirants exhibit the same enthusiasm in owning a retail outlet.