With BJP's return to power, the members of liquor lobby in the state downed a few extra pegs to cheer the win.
Liquor lobby expects him to lift Prohibition but the move faces many hurdles
AHMEDABAD: With BJP's return to power, the members of liquor lobby in the state downed a few extra pegs to cheer the win. They feel that they have secured a licence to drink if not to sell, which might not be too far away as well. If the government's pre-election stance on prohibition is anything to go by, the liquor lobby feels that the state will soon see a lift in prohibition.
"Prohibition is just on paper and it has no relevance as of now. But we can expect that after relaxing prohibition policy in the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) the next move by the state government could be to scrap the prohibition policy," said a big bootlegger from Ahmedabad. With Narendra Modi coming back to power for the third consecutive time the 'liquor lobby' in the state is keenly watching his next move. Though liquor laws have already been relaxed in the state and the liquor availability too has increased with time the bootleggers are feeling that prohibition policy soon will be a matter of past.
However, if the government lifts prohibition, it will be a double-edged sword for both the BJP and bootleggers. If the government lifts prohibition, it'll be able to avoid about Rs2,000 crore of loss in excise revenues, which it incurs every year, says Dinesh Hinduja, who started Malt-march — a campaign against bootlegging against the state. "Karnataka is earning around Rs 3900 crore annually due to liquor business. Even if Gujarat's share of liquor consumption is half of what Karnataka is consuming our excise loss would be mammoth," he said.
He, however, added that it would not be correct to say that the new BJP government would be able to completely remove the prohibition from the state. "But no government can step back from the present status of prohibition in the state. BJP was not able to remove prohibition only because the Opposition made a big issue out of it," he said.
But the scare of losing business if prohibition is lifted is not worrying bootleggers. They feel it will not harm their share in the liquor business. "Big bootleggers any way would grab their share by taking up the licenses and small ones would continue to dominate the black market," explained another bootlegger. Meanwhile, industries in the state are also expecting another move by the state government regarding the defunct state of prohibition. "Prohibition is meaningless for Gujarat. Liquor is always available here and now it is delivered at your doorstep," said a businessman on condition of anonymity.
"We have heard that the new state government will abolish prohibition from Gujarat, but how far is true, we don't know. Till now, only hospitality and tourism industry has demanded for the removal of prohibition from the state," said senior vice president, KD Shah, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also said that by removing prohibition, Gujarat governments will only assure a higher earning through excise and revenue collection. "While, for industry, there won't be any impact," said Shah.
d_anshuman@dnaindia.net & g_roxy@dnaindia.net
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