500 liquor stores to be opened by Delhi government by September 1

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New
Delhi,
Aug
05:
After
reverting
to
the
old
excise
policy,
the
Delhi
government
is
likely
to
operate
500
liquor
vends
from
September
1
in
the
absence
of
no
private
players
in
the
retail
sale
of
alcohol,
officials
said
on
Thursday.

Following
a
meeting
on
Thursday,
a
sub-committee
of
the
government
has
given
a
report
stating
that
the
four
undertakings
—
Delhi
Tourism
and
Transport
Development
Corporation
(DTTDC),
Delhi
State
Industrial
Infrastructure
Development
Corporation
(DSIIDC),
Delhi
Consumer’s
Cooperative
Wholesale
Stores
(DCCWS)
and
Delhi
State
Civil
Supplies
Corporation
(DSCSC)
—
will
set
up
these
vends
by
the
end
of
this
month,
news
agency
PTI
reported.

Another
200
liquor
vends
will
be
opened
by
December
31,
the
report
said.

Of
these
700
outlets
in
total,
each
of
the
corporations
will
run
five
premium
vends
to
sell
high-end
brands,
it
said.
Two
of
these
five
vends
are
likely
to
be
opened
by
the
month
end
and
the
rest
by
December
31.

Extension
of
licences
for
liquor
vends,
pubs
approved:
All
you
need
to
know

DTTDC
will
run
its
stores
in
zones
1-9,
DSIIDC
in
10-18,
DCCWS
in
19-24
and
DSCSC
in
25-30.

Further,
the
report
said,
DTTDC
will
handle
the
airport
zone,
and
DSIIDC
will
manage
areas
under
Delhi
Cantonment
and
New
Delhi
Municipal
Council.

In
the
current
excise
policy
that
will
end
on
August
31,
retail
licenses
were
issued
to
private
firms
for
32
zones
and
849
vends.

The
government,
that
had
quit
the
retail
liquor
business
after
implementing
Excise
Policy
2021-22
on
November
17,
will
get
back
to
running
alcohol
vends
from
September
1.

The
sub-committee
report
said
while
DTTDC
and
DSIIDC
will
open
150
liquor
vends
each
by
month
end,
DCCWS
and
DSCSC
will
open
100
stores
each
in
the
same
period.
By
December,
DTTDC
and
DSIIDC
will
each
open
60
additional
stores,
and
DCCWS
and
DSCSC
will
start
40
fresh
outlets
each.

In
the
old
excise
regime
that
was
in
place
until
November
17
last
year,
the
four
corporations
totally
ran
475
liquor
vends.

The
report
suggested
that
corporations
pay
up
to
15
percent
of
the
anticipated
gross
profit
towards
rent
and
that
the
amount
may
vary
depending
upon
where
the
vends
are
located.

The
sub-committee
was
formed
on
August
3
to
identify
zones
for
the
opening
of
vends
by
each
corporation,
fixing
the
number
of
shops,
determining
the
criteria
for
fixing
rent,
opening
of
vends
in
malls
and
government
centres
and
the
number
of
premium
vends
to
be
set
up.

The
sub-committee
comprised
the
labour
commissioner
and
heads
of
the
four
corporations.

Tipplers
beware:
Liquor
shortage
in
Delhi
from
today

The
corporation
representatives
said
they
would
ensure
that
vends
are
close
to
non-conforming
areas
to
cover
unserved
parts
of
the
city,
maximise
sale
of
premium
brands,
and
prevent
brand
pushing
and
overpricing,
the
report
said.

This
report
will
be
submitted
to
the
principal
secretary
(finance)
for
consideration
and
further
action,
officials
said.

A
committee
to
ensure
seamless
transition
to
the
previous
excise
regime
and
to
check
leakages
was
constituted
under
the
principal
secretary
(finance)
a
few
days
ago.
It
also
included
special
secretary
(IT),
director
of
women
and
child
development,
commissioner
(labour)
and
excise
commissioner.

The
government
has
also
formed
a
committee
comprising
the
principal
secretary
(finance),
principal
secretary
(revenue),
excise
commissioner
and
another
member
having
expertise
in
excise
regime
to
formulate
and
implement
the
excise
policy.
It
will
submit
its
report
within
a
month.