Liquor shops to open today, food apps can deliver in urban areas

Ranchi: After a 59-day run of dry days, parched tipplers in the state will get a taste of their favourite liquor when 1,400 retail liquor stores reopen on Wednesday morning. However, a 25% hike in value added tax (VAT) and the imposition of a 10% special excise duty will increase the prices of liquor by 35%. The state excise and prohibitions department on Tuesday informed the liquor stores that they could open their shops between 7am and 7pm.
To make up for the losses in revenue, the excise department has hiked VAT and imposed a special excise duty on each bottle of India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).“Now, one bottle of IMFL will be 35% costlier than before the lockdown,” excise secretary Vinay Kumar Choubey told TOI. Notably, the state government had levied a VAT of 50% before the lockdown came into effect.
In nine urban centres — Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Deoghar, Ramgarh, Palamu, Giridih and Dumka — liquor can be purchased from online food delivery applications such as Zomato and Swiggy in addition to the stores. “In 15 other district headquarters, consumers can generate an online token by logging into https://jhexcisetoken.nic.in. They will be allotted a time. Once at the store, people with tokens will be given priority over those in queues,” Choubey said.
Liquor stores in rural pockets will only operate only on over-the-counter basis. Choubey said deputy commissioners and SPs have been given a three-page list of standard operating procedures to maintain social distancing protocols. “We have asked respective district administration to take measures to avoid overcrowding, which may lead to violation of social distancing norms,” Choubey added.
Since the sale of liquor was prohibited after the announcement of the lockdown on March 22, the Jharkhand government has lost Rs 300 crore in terms of revenue from sale and excise duties. On an average, the state generates anywhere between Rs 1,600-1,800 crore annually as revenue from IMFL sales through Jharkhand State Beverage Corporation Limited (JSBCL).
BJP’s legislative party leader and former chief minister Babulal Marandi, however, criticised the government for its decision to resume liquor sales. “During the ongoing summer, people are in greater need of fans, coolers, air-conditioners and drinking water. Why did CM Hemant Soren not take these into account and allow the shops selling fans and coolers and their spare parts to open instead of liquor shops? The water levels are depleting and many are in need of boring, plumbing items and motors, but the government seems to be ignorant towards that,” Marandi said in a statement.