Excise minister rules out liquor sale in Maharashtra for now

Neha Madaan | TNN | Updated: Apr 15, 2020, 13:20 IST

Maharashtra excise minister Dilip Walse-Patil

PUNE: There are no “cheers” in sight for tipplers. Shutters of liquor shops in the state are unlikely to go up anytime soon.
Dilip Walse-Patil, the state minister of excise and labour, told TOI on Tuesday that there were no plans of partial or full reopening of liquor shops in Maharashtra as of now. He said, according to the Union government’s guidelines, liquor was not among the items excluded from lockdown. He also clarified that there was no proposal from the state to start home delivery of liquor.
The reopening of liquor shops in Assam and Meghalaya, and the contemplation in some other states on partial reopening of alcohol stores gave a ray of hope to the tipplers in Maharashtra.
“While some states have decided to reopen liquor shops, there are no such plans in Maharashtra as of now. When the Union government issued guidelines on the lockdown in the country, liquor was not included in the list of items to be exempted. Hence, as of now, we have no plans to restart liquor shops or start home delivery of alcohol,” Walse-Patil said.
Amrit Kiran Singh, the executive chairman of the International Spirits and Wines Association, said, “We have spoken to the Union government, highlighting key points on why liquor shops should be reopened in a phased manner. The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, classifies alcohol as food, and food is an essential commodity. Second, the complete shutdown of liquor stores has led to a scenario of black-marketing of alcohol and spurt in sales of spurious liquor like hooch. Third, about 20-30% of the state’s revenue comes from the excise department’s liquor sales. This revenue is needed to provide succour to citizens in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The minister said, “There is a spurt in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra. So, it would be wrong to talk about reopening liquor stores here as of now.”