The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Cabinet nod for excise policy

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Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Cabinet nod for excise policy

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, FEB 8. The State Cabinet on Tuesday approved the new excise policy which will come into force from April 1.

The discussion on the excise policy dominated the agenda as Ministers expressed their individual opinions but, at the end, the consensus that emerged was that it was the "right policy", an official spokesman announced later.

In approving changes from the earlier policy, the Cabinet went by some advantages which would accrue to the system. Firstly, bars to be opened at villages having more than 25,000 population together with the permit rooms existing in villages with 5,000 population would replace the belt shops which had become a public nuisance and were cutting into Government revenue.

A second advantage seen by the Cabinet was that the policy would ensure uniform rates for the three categories of liquor, bringing them below that of other States. By not allowing renewal of old licences, it would pre-empt existing licence-holders from forming rings.

Population criteria

The meeting was of the view that only 40 villages would be eligible for the opening of bars under the new policy and that only 60 to 70 additional bars might come up as a result. For the first time, population was made the sole criteria for grant of a bar regardless of the status of the place as a municipality or gram panchayat.

This was expected to balance the present situation under which Rayachoti, even with 72,186 population, was not a municipality, a status enjoyed by Pedana with 29,535 people.

Additional income

The Cabinet also felt that the additional income accruing from the new policy would be more than Rs. 200 crores. The total revenue for 2005-06 would be Rs. 2,300 crores compared to Rs. 2,100 crores this year. A 10 per cent growth was normally allowed.

The Principal Secretary, Revenue, N. S. Hariharan, later said the number of new outlets coming up under the new policy would not exceed 400 and the figure of 7,500 was mentioned in the policy "as a ceiling". There were 6,859 outlets now.

With a population of 7.5 crores, Andhra Pradesh has 8,294 outlets, including bars, while there were 19,830 in Karnataka (5.2 crores population) and 13,481 in Maharashtra (9.6 crores). He said if the new policy was not successful this year, it might be discontinued next year.

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