Telangana will not succumb to pressure by liquor cos to hike prices: CM Reddy

Hyderabad: Telangana will not succumb to pressure of the liquor companies to hike prices, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said on Saturday.

The CM's comments came amid the impasse with United Breweries, which earlier this week said it has decided to suspend supply of its beer to Telangana Beverages Corporation Ltd with immediate effect due to the non-revision of the basic price of the company's beer from 2019-20.

"When officials brought to the attention of the Chief Minister that United Beverages company mounted pressure on the government to increase beer prices by 33.1 percent, the CM said that the government will not succumb to the pressure by the companies," an official release said.

Reddy directed officials to examine the beer prices in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states. He said a decision on the price hike will be taken based on the report of the Price Fixation Committee headed by a retired high court judge.

The CM in a meeting said the pending bills were paid to the excise department from time to time last year. He told the finance department officials to systematically clear the dues pending since the previous (BRS) regime.

He asked the officials to adopt a transparent mechanism to select companies which come forward to supply liquor to Telangana.

The excise and prohibition department officials have been asked to follow a simplified trade policy to supply new liquor brands by the companies which already have been supplying alcohol to the corporation.

The CM cautioned the officials to follow strict rules in permitting new companies to supply liquor in the state and instructed them to issue a notification to receive applications from new companies within one month.

He said the companies should apply with their brand names only and the selection process should be carried out transparently by examining the quality standards and supply capacity of those companies.

On Wednesday, United Breweries Ltd said it has decided to suspend supply of its beer to the Telangana Beverages Corporation with immediate effect.

The decision was taken due to the non-revision of the basic price of the company's beer from 2019-20 by the Telangana Beverages Corporation, leading to huge losses in the state, United Breweries Ltd (UBL) had said in a regulatory filing.

Moreover, significant overdue remained unpaid by TGBCL for the past supply of beer by the company, it added without disclosing the details.

"As a result, the continued supply of our beer to TGBCL has been rendered unviable," UBL said.

Inputs from PTI