Andhra Pradesh, once a model state with total prohibition, has witnessed a tremendous increase in the consumption of liquor. In spite of a growing movement against small liquor shops in the rural areas, 60,000 people have filed tender applications for the 6,800 retail liquor shops in the state, aiming to cash in on the lucrative business.
Twelve years after total prohibition was lifted by the then Chandrababu Naidu government, Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest consumers of liquor in the country today, taking the excise revenue of the state government beyond Rs 10,000 crore per annum.
"Because of the huge turnout of applicants on Saturday, the last day of submission of applications, we had to keep our counters open till midnight," a senior official of the Excise Department said in Hyderabad.
The tender applications will be opened on Monday to decide who gets the licenses to set up liquor shops in different cities and towns across the state. Though the number of shops will remain constant, the government hopes to earn more money as it has increased the license fee by 15 per cent.
Not surprisingly, Hyderabad has seen the maximum rush of applicants, where 10,000 applications were received for only 212 retail liquor shops.
The state government has also issued a notification seeking applications for setting up 40 new distilleries in the state with a capacity to produce 2,500 crore litre of liquor per annum. This will be in addition to the existing 32 distilleries, which produce 1,700 crore liters of liquor.
The state government plans to increase its liquor production capacity to 8,000 crore litre per annum -- ten times the total production of milk which is 800 crore litre.
Official sources said that apart from local companies, some foreign companies from South Africa and Europe were also showing keen interest in the distilleries.
Meanwhile, the movement against the small liquor shops, also known as 'belt shops', has gained momentum. The opposition Telugu Desam party, which had lifted the prohibition, has launched its own campaign.
Actress Roja, chief of the TDP women's wing Telugu Mahila, is leading the anti-liquor movement by demonstrating at the liquor shops in coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Roja, along with other activists, destroyed two 'belt shops' in Vishakhapatnam last week and also staged a dharna at liquor shops in Guntur and Prakasham districts.
"The Congress has gone back on its election promise of bringing prohibition in a phased manner. Instead, it is encouraging the consumption of liquor in a phased manner by allowing more liquor shops," she alleged.
But the Congress party holds the previous TDP government responsible for allowing the belt shops to mushroom in villages. "During the Congress rule, 8,000 belt shops have been closed and the number of liquor shops has come down to 6,500 from 7,118," said Congress spokesperson N Tulsi Reddy.
It may be recalled that TDP founder N T Rama Rao had imposed total prohibition in the state when he returned to power in 1994. But three years later, his son in law Chandrababu Naidu ousted him and lifted the ban on liquor, but stayed the prohibition of arrack (cheap country made liquor).
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