All liquor vends allotted in Punjab: Govt

The Punjab Excise and Taxation Department today allotted all liquor vends in the state for the 2017-18 fiscal.
The draw of tenders for the remaining districts of Ludhiana, Patiala, Ferozepur and Faridkot Divisions were held yesterday.
"The draw of lots in all the districts were held in a fair and transparent manner in the presence of Deputy Commissioners or their representatives. No complaint has been received in this regard," an official spokesman said.
The Excise Policy for 2017-18 has been made trader-friendly and aims at safeguarding the interests of all the stakeholders like the government, wholesalers, retailers and the consumers, he said.

The department expects to collect Rs 5,400 crores during this fiscal from excise, as against the expected collections of Rs 4,900 crores during the 2016-17 financial year, the spokesman said.
As promised in the Congress's election manifesto, the number of liquor vends has been reduced from 6,384 to 5,900 in the 2017-18 Excise Policy, he said.

This year, no liquor vend will be allowed to operate within a distance of 500 metres of national and state highways, as per the orders of the Supreme Court, the spokesman said.
The system of wholesale license, L-1A, has been abolished. The L-1 licensees will lift their quota directly from the distilleries, bottling plants or manufacturing companies, he said.

From the earlier departure, the L-1 license will be granted to a retail L-2 licence holders, who has secured at least one group or zone, in the district concerned, the spokesman said.
"This is a radical change from the earlier policy and has been done to meet the long pending demand of the retail licensees," he said.
The quota of country liquor has been reduced by 14 per cent from 10.10 crore proof litres to 8.70 crore proof litres.
Similarly, the quota of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) has been reduced from 4.73 crore proof litres to 3.80 crore proof litre.