The Hindu : New norms for allotment of liquor shops

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

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Other States - Madhya Pradesh

New norms for allotment of liquor shops

By Our Staff Correspondent

BHOPAL, FEB. 21. The Madhya Pradesh Government has decided to allot foreign liquor shops across the State from the next financial year beginning April 1 on payment of the prescribed licence fee after inviting applications on the basis of "minimum quantity''. In case of more than one application, the allotment would be made through lottery.

This was announced here today by the State Minister for Commercial Tax, Kailash Chawla, while briefing newsmen about the new excise arrangement being introduced in the State.

Mr. Chawla said that to improve the excise system and revenue collection, the State Government had sent a study team to Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab. On the basis of inputs received, different alternatives were presented before the Cabinet sub-committee on Excise, which had subsequently recommended that the monopoly system should be abolished.

Mr. Chawla told newsmen that the new system being introduced in the State had already been introduced in Uttar Pradesh in 2001-02. Uttar Pradesh had recorded about 6 percent loss in revenue in the year 2001-02 (the initial year) but next year that State registered a record 30 per cent increase in revenue. Even in Chhattisgarh, the problem of monopoly had surfaced due to the auction adjustment system in the year 2002-03.

Under the new arrangement being introduced from April 1 this year, a committee headed by the district collector would allot the shops. The notification for allotment of liquor shops is likely to be issued in the first week of March and for actual lottery in the second week of April.

The applications for liquor shops would be sold at the offices of the district collector/district excise officer/sub divisional magistrate and the State Bank of India and State Bank of Indore branches dealing with government transactions at district headquarters. The price of each application form for shops in rural areas and nagar panchayat areas would be Rs. 1000; Rs. 2000 for shops in municipal areas barring the Rajbhogi towns and Rs. 3000 for shops in municipal corporation areas of Indore, Jabalpur, Bhopal and Gwalior. A person would be allowed to submit only one application for one shop.

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New norms for allotment of liquor shops