UP cabinet nod to 2020-21 excise policy

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to the state's 2020-21 excise policy, under which the licence fee for country-made liquor has been increased by 10 per cent, for beer by 15 per cent and for foreign liquor by 20 per cent.

"The government has made a simple and transparent excise policy. Renewal of licences will be done through e-lottery. Under the new policy, one person will be allowed to have only two shops in the state," Principal Secretary, Excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddy said while briefing reporters at a press conference here after the Cabinet meeting.

"The beer shops will now be able to sell wines. Licence fee will be charged to serve liquor in luxury trains and cruises within the state boundary, which was free earlier. Licences will be given to airport lounges and hotels located outside the airport where flight passengers stay," he said.

Bar codes will be put on all liquor bottles so that consumers can check whether liquor is real or not, he said.

Bhoosreddy also said the licence fee to serve liquor in hotels located in small towns will be Rs 2.5 lakh per year. Till now this facility was not available in small towns.

The annual licence fee to serve liquor in a 50-room hotel has been fixed at Rs 10 lakh for category-1 cities (hotels/restaurants and clubs in Gautambuddhnagar, Ghaziabad district, municipal corporation area of Kanpur Nagar, Agra, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Varanasi.

The licence fee for category-2 cities has been fixed at Rs 7.50 lakh. This includes municipal corporation areas of Bareily, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Ayodhya and Firozabad.

The licence fee for category-3 cities is Rs 5 lakh, while for category-4 cities, it is Rs 2.50 lakh, he said.