In a shocking revelation, retail liquor traders on Sunday told new excise minister K. Parthasarathi that about 1.5 lakh belt shops were in operation in the state.
The revelation came during the minister’s meeting with retailers and distillers to elicit views on the proposed excise policy.
The retailers also demanded that the government legalise belt shops and accord official sanction to at least three belt shops for every retail outlet allotted by the government. The distillers, on the other hand, reiterated their suggestion that the state should take over the retail trade to ensure sale of liquor for Maximum Retail Price.
Defending the existence of belt shops, wine dealers explained that several reasons, including the long distance between licensed shops and habitations, were responsible for proliferation of belt shops.
In each village, representatives of two or more political parties were running belt shops to gain supremacy, they said, adding that brewing of adulterated liq-uor or toddy would increase, in the absence of belt shops.
The minister, however, made it clear that the government did not want to encourage more shops. He also insisted that the retailers should strictly adhere to the MRP.
Interestingly, the retailers and distillers were on a confrontation path over the running of retail trade.
Reacting to the suggestion that the state should take over the retail trade, the wine dealers argued that the same logic should be applied in case of distilleries also as in several cases “the liquor on which duty is not paid is traced to the manufacturers.”
The AP Wineries and Distilleries Association told the minister that the government could save Rs4,000 crore and consumers would be spared of spending Rs12,000 crore in excess, if the state runs the retail trade. The minister sought to know whether the manufacturers would stand guarantee to the state’s revenue.
Mr Parthasarathi assured the retailers that the government would look into the suggestion to increase the number of shops in proportion to an increase in the population. The population base for fixing the number of shops was more than a decade old and there was an 11 per cent growth.
The minister told mediapersons later that consultations with all stakeholders and civil society representatives on the new liquor policy would continue.