As the old regime of excise policy returned from September 1, the exercise department has collected Rs 269.08 crore revenue as excise duty and license fees so far.
According to sources, more than 500 retail shops have been granted licences out of which 350 shops have already started sales since September 1.
As many as 72 wholesale suppliers have registered 600 brands of which 60 licenses with 430 brands (195 Indian and 235 Foreign) have been approved. Besides, about 926 Hotels, Clubs & Restaurants liquor licenses have also been auto renewed for period till 28th February 2023. "Rs 269.08 crore excise revenue, including licence fee and excise duty, has been collected (up to September 5) under the current regime. In addition to this, revenue, as VAT on liquor sales, of proportionate value will also be received," the excise department said.
"More than 1000 brands will be brought into the Delhi market to cater to different strata of the society in the coming days. As on date, sufficient liquor for more than 12 full days is available in Delhi.
Liquor outlets have reported an average sale of about 8 lakh in the first week of September which is likely to go up in the coming days," sources said.
The AAP Government reverted to its old excise regime from September 1 with over 350 liquor vends opened by the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation and Delhi Consumers' Cooperative Wholesale Store.
Sources said that more than 500 retail shops have been granted licences out of which 350 shops have already started sales and that remaining retail vends will be made operational after following laid down procedure in this regard.
Under the Excise Policy 2021-22, private vends had logged a sale of around 13 to 14 lakh liquor bottles daily. The policy was withdrawn by the government in July after a CBI probe was recommended by Lt Governor V K Saxena into alleged irregularities.
"These include many premier vends and 6 shops in shopping malls. These Government corporations will be catering to Delhi’s Liquor requirements till January, 2023 and special efforts were made to improve the user experience, which will be further enhanced, “they added.
According to the sources, the Excise Intelligence Bureau (EIB), 33 teams at Sub-division level headed by the area Sub-divisional Magistrates have been constituted to ensure no malpractices like bootlegging, cross border liquor smuggling, hoarding, and illegal practices like discounting/overcharging, brand pushing, etc.
As part of Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) and also considering the fixed timelines, licensees are being facilitated through NOCs from the trade and taxes department within 24 hours through a nodal officer, they added.
A help desk has also been made operational in the excise department that has has taken all necessary steps to ensure seamless transition in a span of less than a month's time to provide adequate liquor supply in Delhi from 01st September, 2022.
Meanwhile, the liquor vends in the capital, still striving to get their hands on the supply of popular brands such as Blenders Pride, Royal Stag, etc. The stock is available but not sufficient to meet the demand of booze lovers in the city.
“The supply of the liquor is now on the daily basis, but the only struggle that we are facing is of the brands which are not available with suppliers.
Only some brands in the expensive liquor such as black dog, black label are available, while the others are still missing from the shelves,” said a liquor vend owner at Shahdara, east district.