Stakeholders given positive feedback on composite liquor, beer shops: UP minister

Lucknow, Apr 3 (PTI) A couple of days after the implementation of the Uttar Pradesh Excise Policy 2025-26, Excise Minister Nitin Agarwal on Thursday asserted that stakeholders have given positive feedback on the concept of composite shops that have replaced separate foreign liquor and beer shops.

"The stakeholders have given positive feedback on composite shops," Agarwal told PTI on Thursday.

Asked about the need to introduce composite shops, Agarwal said, "The main aim was to bring the beer shops and the foreign liquor shops under one roof. This will make it convenient for the consumers.

"By combining the shop, we saw that there will be an increase in revenue. Thirdly, it will also reduce the number of shops." Asked whether the reduction in the number of shops will result in a reduction in employment, the minister said, "No".

He said the concept of composite shops has been introduced in the state for the first time.

Elaborating further, he said, "In the year 2024-25, there were 6,563 shops of foreign liquor, while there were 5,970 beer shops in the state. In this way, a total of 12,553 shops were operational.

"This has been reduced to 9,362 composite shops in 2025-26. In the first phase, 9,316 shops were allotted through e-lottery, while in the second phase, the remaining 46 shops were allotted through e-lottery.

"Despite the reduction in the number of shops, the excise revenue of the state is intact. In the e-lottery, the department earned Rs 2,318.77 crore as processing fee," he said, adding that through the composite shops, the revenue is likely to increase.

The Uttar Pradesh Excise Policy 2025-26 came into effect on April 1 under which separate foreign liquor and beer shops are being replaced by composite shops.

Explaining his focus on enforcement, Agarwal said, "We have divided the state into two parts -- eastern and western, each consisting of nine divisions. We have put two joint commissioners on duty and they will review the works of the department in the nine divisions besides seeing the enforcement work. I am strengthening enforcement, making it more strict." He said better the enforcement, the revenue will also increase in the same proportion.

He said 1,12,279 cases were registered by the Excise Department in the financial year 2024-25 and 30 lakh litres of illicit liquor was recovered.

Besides, 24,049 people involved in the business of illicit liquor were arrested and of these 5,557 people were sent to jail. The department also seized 203 vehicles involved in the transportation of illicit liquor.

Giving details about the department's contribution to making UP a USD 1 trillion economy under an ambitious plan of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the minister said, "In total, 137 MoUs have been signed with various investors. Investment worth Rs 39,708.21 crore will take place and employment generation for 72,474 people will be done. The actual investment figure stands at Rs 10,184.73 crore." He said the non-MoU investment is Rs 600 crore.

Giving details about the revenue, Agarwal said, "The revenue generated by the Excise Department in 2024-25 was Rs 52,297.08 crore, which is the highest annual revenue so far. This is 14.76 per cent higher than the revenue of 2023-24, which was Rs 45,570 crore. In the year 2022-23, the revenue earned by the Excise Department was Rs 41,252.24 crore." In the Uttar Pradesh Excise Policy 2025-26, the department has also fixed an excise target of Rs 63,000 crore.

On how the which department will achieve the revenue target of Rs 63,000 crore, Agarwal said, "The target has been given to us (excise department) by the state government and we also have monthly targets from April to March on which we work. We review every month what we have achieved in terms of the target set. If the achievement is poor at any particular point, we find out the reason and rectify it." He said some of the steps taken by the Excise Department to prevent tax evasion are the use of digital locks on tankers used for transportation of spirit and liquor, installation of CCTV cameras in distilleries and other units and their integration with the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC), transportation of liquor using only GPS-enabled vehicles, use of digital alcohol meter in distilleries, geo-fencing of licensed excise premises, use of High-Security Excise Adhesive Label (HSEAL) QR code-barcode stickers on bottles and crates and tracking of bottles/crates from the place of production till sale at the retail shops, and establishment of Command and Control Centre for continuous monitoring of the supply of alcohol/liquor from all the distilleries and breweries.

From November 1, 2024 to March 15, 2025, 4.23 crore quintal molasses ('sheera') were produced in the state.

In February, the UP cabinet approved the Excise Policy for the financial year 2025-26, with several key changes including the introduction of an e-lottery system for the allocation of liquor and 'bhang' (cannabis) shops.

The government has also for the first time introduced the concept of 'composite shops', merging separate beer and foreign liquor outlets into a single unit. PTI NAV KSS KSS

Source: PTI