E-lottery for liquor licence to resume in Noida this week after 6 years

Noida: The excise department is preparing for its first e-lottery draw for liquor shop licences since 2018, which is scheduled to be held on 6 March.
A four-member district-level committee headed by the district magistrate will oversee the process, with public viewing arrangements in place. The excise department received over 31,000 applications for liquor shop licences ahead of the new financial year, the last date of which was Feb 27.
In Noida, 17,710 applications were received for 501 retail liquor shops, while in Ghaziabad, 14,169 applications were received for 463 liquor shops. These new shops are set to open from April 1.
Subodh Kumar, district excise officer, GB Nagar said as this is the first time in six years that a state-level e-lottery is being organized, the state govt has appointed senior IAS officers for each district as observers.
Sanjay Singh, district excise officer of Ghaziabad said that there are nearly 4,000 applicants in Ghaziabad, of which at least 1,000 people are expected to come to watch the e-lottery process. Similarly, 2,500 people are expected to watch the process in GB Nagar.
Arrangements for a public screening of the process have been made at the Nagar Nigam Auditorium in Nehru Nagar. In Noida, the public viewing area will be set up at the DM office campus in Surajpur.