The Andhra Pradesh cabinet had approved the recommendations of the cabinet subcommittee on the new liquor policy. The policy would come into force from the first week of October this year.
The cabinet which met under the chairmanship of chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Velagapudi secretariat had approved the recommendations of the cabinet subcommittee. The new liquor policy would have a quarter bottle of liquor sold at Rs 99. The cabinet also approved the recommendation of the cabinet subcommittee that 10 per cent of the shops would be given to the toddy tappers. This would amount to 340 shops in the state.
The new liquor policy would have 12 premium liquor shops, each priced at Rs 1 crore. However, there would be no premium shop in Tirupati, the temple town of the state. These shops licenses would be in force for five years. The other shops licenses would be in force for two years, the cabinet decided.
The shops would be kept open from 10 AM to 10 PM. All liquor brands available across the world would also be available in these liquor shops. The shops would be given to the private people on lottery basis. The license fee would be in four slabs based on the area and population and the fee would range from Rs 50 lakh per shop to Rs 85 lakh. However, the shops given to the toddy tappers would have 50 per cent less of the price, the cabinet said.
However, the cabinet did not discuss about the future of those working in the government liquor shops now. It would be left to the license holders whether to take them or leave them. The cabinet had postponed the discussion on the future of these employees.
The cabinet felt that the village and ward volunteers system had expired on August 15, 2023. The previous YSR Congress government did not extend their term after August 2023. It is not known whether the volunteers are in service or not. The cabinet left the issue to the chief minister to take a call at a later date.
The cabinet approved the proposals to start BITS and Law Universities in the state. The representatives of Birla Institute have agreed to start the BITS university in the state a cost of Rs 1000 crore. The cabinet also approved the proposal from the advocates of the Supreme Court to start Law University in the state.
The cabinet also approved the proposal to keep Rs 5,000 crore fund at the disposal of the MSMEs in the state. This fund would help the MSMEs to use it as working capital in the days to come. The cabinet also approved the proposal to name Bhogapuram airport after Alluri Sitaramaraju Airport.
