In a u-turn, Maharashtra government has decided that wine, liquor shops will not open from Monday (May 4) in Mumbai. It is learnt that all excise officers in the city are scheduled to meet at 12pm to take a decision in this regard and till then liquor shops will remain shut in Mumbai.
Earlier it was decided that wine stores can resume business in Mumbai Metropolitan Region with certain conditions on Monday. Sale of liquor was however not allowed in malls, restaurants and permit rooms during the lockdown 3.0, which will remain in place till April 17.
An expert panel of the Maharashtra government has reportedly stated in its recommendation that the sale of alcohol in the state should be permitted, under strict social distancing guidelines.
Notably, Maharashtra earns an excise revenue of Rs 1,500 crores from the sale of liquor every month. However, due to the lockdown, the excise department has been hit by huge revenue loss. It is to be noted that after the Centre imposed a nation-wide lockdown on March 24, a strict ban has since then been enforced on the sale and manufacturing of liquor in the state.
Recently, MNS chief Raj Thackeray had written to CM Uddhav Thackeray requesting him to allow the reopening of wine shops so that the state can generate revenue to deal with the ongoing financial crisis.
