Goa minister wants industrial estates to be 'no liquor zones'

Goa Industries Minister Vishwajit Rane has said his department is mulling to make all its industrial estates as 'no liquor zones' and encourage workers to have healthy food instead of consuming alcohol.

The industries department will write to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who holds the Excise portfolio, not to issue any more licences for liquor bars in the industrial units, Rane told reporters here on Tuesday.

The coastal state has total 22 industrial estates, all controlled by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation.

"We want to promote canteens with nutritious food among workers in the industrial estates rather than the liquor bars. I will write about this to the chief minister once he is back from his Russia tour," Rane said.

The minister said he will also write to the Excise department to cancel all the existing licences granted to bars in the industrial estates.

"We will seek a record from the Excise department of how many bars have been permitted in the industrial estates," he said.

Rane said he was following up the decision of former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who had earlier in-principle resolved not to allow bars and alcohol manufacturing units in the industrial estates.