Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday directed the Excise Department to take firm action against belt shops and asked officials to study the sub-lease system followed in Haryana to curb the practice. He also ordered further reforms in the lottery system for allotment of liquor shops, application fee structure, liquor identification system, and other related procedures.
Reviewing the functioning of the department at the Secretariat, Mr. Naidu asked officials to examine the proposal to exempt bars from additional retail excise tax and to accord priority to digital payments wherever feasible.
Officials informed the Chief Minister that the department earned ₹7,041 crore against a target of ₹8,000 crore during the 2024–25 financial year. Liquor sales registered a 4.52% increase between April 1 and December 17, 2025, in FY 2025–26. Digital payments recorded an average growth of 34.9%, with some districts reporting up to 47%.
To curb the sale of spurious liquor, a unique identification number has been assigned to each bottle. Sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor grew by 19.08%, while beer sales nearly doubled, rising by 95%.
Calling for foolproof implementation of the Hologram Excise Adhesive Labels system, Mr. Naidu said it would help check counterfeiting and tax evasion, thereby safeguarding excise revenue.
Ministers Kollu Ravindra and Kondapalli Srinivas, Principal Secretary (Finance) Peeyush Kumar, and Directors Chamakuri Sridhar (Prohibition & Excise) and Rahul Dev Sarma (Excise Enforcement) were among those present.
Published – December 22, 2025 07:40 pm IST
