By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand government is likely to withdraw an excise department circular that made it mandatory for bar and restaurants to buy a fixed minimum quantity of liquor every year.
“The impractical circular cannot be imposed. We will soon convene a meeting of bars and restaurants owners and discuss the issue,” said Kamlesh Singh, the state’s excise and prohibition minister.
The excise department had on Dec 10 issued a circular that made it mandatory for various categories of liquor licence holders to buy a minimum quantity of liquor.
The bars in the state capital, for instance, are issued a licence after paying Rs.500,000 a year. The circular made it necessary for them to buy at least 6,000 London proof litre (LPL) of India made foreign liquor (IMFL) and 9,000 beer litre (BL) a year.
Similarly, a Rs.300,000 licence holder was directed to buy a minimum of 4,800 LPL of IMFL and 8,000 BL a year.
Bar owners of Ranchi said they hardly sell 1,500 LPL to 2,500 LPL of IMFL in a year. The circular directs them to buy at least 6,000 LPL in a year.
If the excise department had actually sold the amount mentioned in the circular, it would have generated additional revenue of Rs.200 million ($5 million) every year from bars and restaurants.
The excise department is now trying to find out ways not to impose the quota system and at the same time ensure increase in the excise duty collections, said sources.
“We are not averse to the excise department generating money but the method could be different. Fixing a quota will not help the department. If the quota is imposed, then more than 80 percent (of the bars and restaurants) will be closed in the state,” said Chandra Mohan Kapoor, president of Jharkhand Bars and Hotels Association.
In Jharkhand, there are 94 licensed bars and restaurants, out of which 24 are located in state capital Ranchi.