Delhi govt re-enters business, scouting space for shops

Liquor shops run by government agencies are likely to open in the old locations or in properties close to them in different parts of Delhi before the end of August and will start selling alcohol from September 1, said officials aware of the ongoing preparations.

Liquor shops run by government agencies are likely to open in the old locations or in properties close to them in different parts of Delhi before the end of August and will start selling alcohol from September 1, said officials aware of the ongoing preparations.

Delhi govt re-enters business, scouting space for shops (Hindustan Times)

Delhi government will revert to the old excise policy from September 1 till a new policy is framed. It has extended liquor permits till August 31 for a smooth transition. Government-run liquor stores stopped sales from November 17 last year, and the vacuum was filled by private retailers.

Four government agencies — Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi Consumer’s Cooperative Wholesale Store and Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation — are contacting owners of the properties where the liquor stores were located to rent them again.

“We are in touch with the owners of the same properties where our stores were located last year and trying to hire their properties on rent,” said an official of the DSIIDC, which ran 89 liquor stores under the older excise regime. “Most of these properties were located in easily accessible locations close to the markets, metro stations or bus stations, which is why we are interested in opening the stores in the same locations,”

Some of the landlords have already let out their properties. “In such cases, we are trying to find out a property close to the same property,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Under the old excise policy, there were a total of 864 retail liquor stores, out of which 475 were run by government agencies, and 389 stores were run by the private retailer.

It is not yet known if there will be the same number of government-run stores, an excise department official said, declining to be named. It is also not clear whether private retailers would be permitted to run liquor stores as they did during the old policy before November 17, 2021.

Excise commissioner Krishna Mohan Uppu did not reply to questions seeking clarity over the issue.

“The details are being worked out at the appropriate level. It is a call the government has to take. The opening of liquor stores will depend on the availability of suitable premises and the number of government-run shops will depend on it,” the excise official said.

Traders are pushing for a hybrid model, where both government and private entities operate liquor stores.

Delhi currently has 342 functional retail liquor stores. Under the excise policy of 2021-22, the target was to open 849 shops, but only 468 vends were operational on July 31, and many have since surrendered their licences. HT has seen letters from two traders, who owned stores in separate excise zones in Delhi, in which they surrendered their permits without giving any reason.

A trader, who continues to run liquor stores, said some traders decided to surrender licenses because of the instability in the excise policy.

“Immediately after the implementation of the new excise policy, there were protests by different political groups, which only caused loss of business,” he said, seeking anonymity. “Later the lieutenant governor ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged irregularities in the implementation of the policy. The traders obtained licences as per the policy, and many of them suffered due to no fault of theirs.”

The DTTDC is trying to quickly get spaces to set up liquor stores, an official of the corporation said. “The DTTDC ran around 122 liquor stores under the old policy,” he said, wanting to remain unnamed. “ We are trying to open as many stores as we can so that the stores can start operating from September 1 as per the orders of the government.”

The agency will engage its employees in mostly supervisory roles in running the retail stores and will hire some contractual manpower to run the stores, he said. “All preparations are being done.”

The process of application for licenses to government agencies to run retail liquor stores is likely to start by this week. The sizes of the liquor stores are likely to be the same at 300-500 sq. ft, officials said.