Even as the liquor sellers lament that the new excise policy is de-motivating, the Excise department has excelled in renewal of liquor shops this fiscal.
Excise Commissioner Senthil Pandiyan C on Wednesday said, “The department has received a total of 27,497 online applications for renewal of the shops, thus 93.14 per cent of the shops are to be renewed. In fiscal 2020-21, the renewal rate was 83.9 per cent, 91.5 per cent in 2021-22 and 90.63 per cent in fiscal 2022-23. This way the department has excelled in renewal of the liquor shops this fiscal.”
He informed that first retail shops would be renewed under the excise policy 2023-24.
“The shops left vacant after the renewal will be allotted through e-lottery in three phases, first of which is to be held between February 20 and 28, the second between March 6 and 14 and the third between March 21 and 28,” he said.
The excise commissioner said the participants for the renewal of the shops, which was held between February 3 and 6, showed great interest this year in comparison to the previous year. He said a total of 29,522 shops of desi liquor, IMFL, beer, bhang and model liquor shops were to be allotted in the current fiscal.