Delhi govt likely to open 500 liquor vends from September 1: Report

According to a report, the Delhi govt is likely to operate as many as 500 liquor vends from September 1. The move comes amid the absence of no private players in the retail sale of alcohol

The Delhi government may return to the old liquor policy after facing a lot of flak from the Opposition, a media report said.

The old excise policy will be reimplemented in the national capital on August 31. According to a PTI report on Thursday, the Delhi government is likely to operate as many as 500 liquor vends from September 1. The move comes amid the absence of no private players in the retail sale of alcohol, officials told the news agency.

A meeting was held on Thursday and a sub-committee of the Delhi govt gave a report stating, "that the four undertakings -- Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC), Delhi State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC), Delhi Consumer's Cooperative Wholesale Stores (DCCWS) and Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation (DSCSC) -- will set up these vends by the end of this month."

The report further added that another 200 vends will be added by the end of the year and out of these 700 outlets, each corporation will run five premium vends to sell high-end brands. Out of these five liquor vends, two are expected to open up by month end, while the other three will be opened up by end of 2022.

While DTTDC will run its stores in 1-9 zones, DSIIDC will run stores in 10-18 zones, DCCWS in 19-24 and DSCSC in 25-30. The DTTDC will be responsible for the airport zone, and DSIIDC will be responsible for managing areas under Delhi Cantonment and New Delhi Municipal Council.

According to the report presented by the sub-committee, DTTDC and DSIIDC are expected to open as many as 150 liquor vends each by month end, whereas, DCCWS and DSCSC will open 100 stores. By December 31, 2022, DTTDC and DSIIDC will add 60 more stores, and DCCWS and DSCSC will add 40 more fresh outlets each.

In the old excise regime that was in place until November 17 2021, the four corporations ran 475 liquor vends.