Officials clarified that though the price of liquor will not be changed, liquor at departmental stores may cost more.

The administration has not made any changes in the number of liquor vends and has retained last year’s ceiling on the maximum number of vends at 215 vends.

However, the mode of payment for procuring the licence has been altered. For companies, the mode of recovery of license fee has been fixed in lump sum. The companies will have to make the payment within 24 hours of the grant/renewal of license. For individual owners or other organisation, 50% of the license fee must be paid within 24 hours of the grant/renewal. The remaining amount must be paid by 31 st July, ‘08.

The administration has decided that new licences shall be granted on a first come first served basis in commercial areas of sectors, industrial areas, rehabilitation colonies and in already existing pucca structures.

The other changes made in the policy include:

1. To curb illegal sale of liquor, a new pack of 150ml size Nip with minimum selling price of Rs 10 for Country liquor and Rs 12 for IMFL has been introduced.

2. The Import fee has been fixed at a uniform rate of Rs 2 per proof liter for both Country Liquor and IMFL.

3. Six categories of IMFL 75 degree will be placed from next fiscal year. These include Cheap Brand, Economy Brand, Medium Brand, Premium Brand, Semi-Deluxe Brand, and Deluxe Brand categories. The categories are based on the per case price of the IMFL, with the cheap brands costing less than Rs 500 per case and the deluxe brand costing more than Rs 1800 per case.