Bhubaneswar: In a major decision, the state government has decided to go for fresh settlement of all the existing sanctioned India made foreign liquor (IMFL) ‘OFF’ and country liquor shops through lottery process from 2021-22 onwards.
Excise secretary Sushil Kumar Lohani has asked the commissioner Ashish Singh to initiate process for settlement of liquor shops through lottery process.
All IMFL ‘OFF’ shops and country liquor retail shops were being renewed annually in favour of existing licensees for last many years. As a result, many of the licensees have been continuing since 2005 or even earlier. Therefore, the government has taken the measure, he said.
Further, he said, the exclusive privilege once granted shall continue for a period of five years including the year of grant unless otherwise directed by the state government.
The exclusive privilege holder shall renew his/her licence on terms & conditions generally prescribed by the state government from year to year till completion of five years.
As explained in the guideline, the submission of application will be online through a portal. However, the lottery will be in physical mode by the Collector in presence of the applicants or their representatives. The entire process of lottery will be videographed, he pointed out.
The government has also decided that for the year 2021-22, there will be an increase of 20 per cent in the ‘monthly consideration money’ and increase of 5 per cent in the annual Minimum Guaranteed Quantity (MGQ) over the present rate (2020-21) for all IMFL ‘OFF’ shops, Lohani said.
However, in case of country liquor shops, there will be no increase in the Monthly Consideration money for FY 2021-22.