Ladakh's New Excise Policy Raises Liquor Outlets From 2 To 20, Eases Rules

The Ladakh administration will allow foreign liquor and increase the number of outlets from two to 20 in the region. It said the policy is aimed at curbing narcotics and drugs and giving people a wider choice of low alcoholic content liquor in the region.

Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has approved the new excise policy.

"A key feature of the new excise policy is the liberalisation of the existing restrictive regime, which had resulted in limited availability of brands and outlets, and thus created an artificial scarcity that often deterred tourists visiting Ladakh," a statement said.

The administration said the "unavailability of hard liquor in Ladakh was prompting individuals to resort to illegal narcotic substances" and now the sale of hard liquor, including foreign liquor and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), is allowed in retail vends.

Officials said that earlier, only beer, wine and ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages were allowed for retail sale through vends. Ladakh had only two liquor outlets in Leh.

Now, the 20 outlets will be opened across the region including newly created districts of Nubra, Changthang, Sham, and Zanskar.

The administration said the Lieutenant Governor's approval came after taking suggestions from civil society groups, religious organisations and public representatives.

"The new policy comes after extensive meetings with civil society organisations, NGOs, religious organisations, public representatives and government officials, in recent months. One of the major concerns raised in these meetings was the increasing dependence on narcotic substances and psychotropic drugs, particularly due to the unavailability of hard liquor in Ladakh," the statement said.

The administration said the new policy marks a significant reform in the excise regime of the Union Territory and introduces "a liberalised, transparent and technology-enabled regulatory framework,aimed at balancing public convenience, tourism promotion, revenue optimisation and effective and efficient regulation of liquor trade."

According to the Ladakh administration, it's for the  first time that retail vending of liquor has been allowed in guest houses and homestays on payment of licence fees. The consumption of liquor is now allowed within the hotel premises including in rooms. Earlier, liquor consumption was restricted only to the bar.

The administration has also eased the requirement of documents for applying for an excise licence and reduced the number of documents to just six against 16 required as per the earlier policy. In the liberalised policy, the mandatory clearance and opinion of district administration for obtaining a liquor licence has been done away with.

According to policy, in order to optimise excise revenue, the annual fee for wholesale license has been increased from existing Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. "Base price for retail vends too, has been revised. The base price In Leh municipal wards has been fixed at Rs 60 lakh, while in other areas, it has been fixed at Rs 30 lakh," it said.

The administration said the excise policy has "effected a major reform by deregulating the existing regime". Earlier, Tourism Department registration was mandatory for hotels to get liquor licence. Now, only GST registration will be sufficient for getting it.