High on liquor policy: Retail margins up by 989 per cent under Delhi’s new excise rules, show probe papers
India Today
The Delhi government implemented the Excise Policy 2021-22 on November 17 last year. The new measures were designed heavily in favour of liquor retailers.
The Delhi government’s new excise policy was designed heavily in favour of liquor retailers, was less consumer-friendly and caused a big drop in state revenues, investigating agencies scrutinizing official documents suspect.
In comparison to the old system, the policy brought in by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia could have jacked up the retail margins for liquor sellers by over 989 percent, according to the papers being probed by the ED and the CBI and accessed by India Today.
On their part, both Manish Sisodia and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have rejected the accusations, calling themselves “kattar imandar” or uncompromisingly honest.
The Delhi government implemented the Excise Policy 2021-22 on November 17 last year. The new measure changed the way liquor was sold in the city, with the government withdrawing from its retail business and letting private players run the show.
Previously, four government corporations ran 475 of Delhi's total 864 liquor stores.
Under the new policy, some 849 liquor vends were awarded to private companies through open bidding. The city was divided into 32 zones, each with a maximum of 27 vends. Instead of individual licences, bidding was done zone-by-zone.
As part of the new system, retail licenses in those 32 zones were auctioned off from August. The bidding generated a total license fee of Rs 8,911 crore for the government by September.
