COVID blow: AP suffers Rs 2000 Cr revenue loss, hikes liquor price by 25%

Vijayawada: The wait liquor is set to end as the Andhra Pradesh government announced it was reopening liquor outlets in the state, except in the COVID-19 containment zones, from 4 May. However, tipplers will have to pay extra for their drink of choice as the state government has increased the prices by around 20 to 25 per cent.

The special chief secretary of the revenue department, Rajat Bhargava, said standalone liquor shops will be allowed to open in the state barring those in the containment zones. The shops will remain open from 11 a.m to 7 p.m, he said.

Andhra Pradesh has 3,500 liquor outlets of which around 2,000 is likely to reopen on Monday. The government has already given the green signal to distilleries and breweries in the state.

Mr Bhargava said Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to hike the liquor prices in an effort to reduce consumption of liquor. The hike is part of the government policy to cut down the number of liquor outlets and ban liquor in phases, he said.

The decision to hike the prices is reportedly to recover the revenue losses due to the COVID-19 crisis. The YSRCP government, however, has denied the claim and said the move was to discourage people from consuming liquor. The state government has lost over Rs. 2,000 crore due to the shutdown of liquor outlets during the lockdown.

Meanwhile, coming down heavily on the state government, Telugu Desam Party’s state president Kala Venkata Rao said while the government had failed to reopen the Anna canteens to feed the poor it was reopening liquor stores to fleece the hard earnings of the people.