There are no takers for more than half of the liquor retail outlets in the twin cities. The deadline for filing applications for retail outlets expired on Monday and the excise department received only 127 applications for 80 shops while there was not a single application for the remaining 132 shops. With the new excise policy commencing from July 1, officials are worried about the lack of applications.
It is not clear whether the government will extend the time to submit applications in the Twin Cities or ask the AP Beverages Corporation to run the outlets. The situation was better in other areas of the state with the department receiving about 30,000 applications for 6,300 outlets. While 18,000 applications had been received till Sunday, the last day rush saw 12,000 more applications being filed, said excise officials. Gun-tur topped the list with about 3,000 applications.
The state has also cleared the way for renewal of licences for bars. It has retained the fee of Rs 31 lakh in corporations with a population of above 20 lakh and has asked existing bar licencees to apply for renewals if required.