AP Liquor Policy: How Much Will Govt Get In 1st Month?

It is known that the government of Andhra Pradesh had called for tenders for the issuance of new liquor outlet licenses in the state. This was met with a mad rush as nearly 90,000 non-refundable applications were received as of October 13. The lottery process to select the winners of the contract was held on October 14 and this marks the end of a substantial step in the imposition of the new policy.

While the government has already made Rs 1800 crore through the 90,000 applications which cost Rs 2 lakh each, there is a significant amount of revenue to come.

Once the winners of the lottery are announced, they will have to pay licensing fees ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 85 lakh based on the location of these liquor outlets in six installments.

In total, the government of Andhra Pradesh will be getting a sizeable Rs 2084 crore annually through liquor licenses alone.

On Tuesday, which marks the issuance of the licenses, the concerned individuals will have to pay the first installment. The government will generate Rs 335 crore on Tuesday through this program. This is a major first installment to a fiscally struggling state like AP.

Unlike the previous YCP government policy which mandated cash-only policy, the new policy introduced by the NDA will enforce online payments to keep track of liquor sales. The government projects to generate Rs 17,000 crore through liquor sales in the next six months through the new policy.