KHAMMAM: The dream of earning mega bucks is quickly evaporating for those who paid astronomical sums and got licences for setting up liquor shops close to the Andhra Pradesh border in Khammam district. The reason: The AP government has slashed prices of liquor by 15 to 20 per cent, bringing them on par with those in Telangana.
Hoping to make a killing as expectation was that tipplers from across the Telangana border would descend on their shops in droves, the traders had applied for licences paying Rs 2 lakh (non-refundable fee) for each shop.
According to sources, about 6,212 traders have applied for 122 shops in Khammam district and 4,270 applications for 86 wine shops in Bhadradri Kothagudem district. Through the application fee alone, the Excise Department got Rs 209.64 crore in both the districts.
The number of shops had been increased by the Excise Department considering the huge business the existing ones were making, mainly due to the tipplers purchasing liquor in bulk and smuggling it into Andhra Pradesh.
The number has gone up by 33 shops in Khammam district and 11 in Bhadradri Kothagudem this year. For each shop, the traders, whose applications were picked by the Excise authorities through a draw, had paid between Rs 50-55 lakh fixed as licence fee for shops in rural areas and Rs 5 lakh for setting up a permit room.
According to N Kesav, a wine shop owner: “We have invested crores expecting huge business but we never thought that the Andhra government would suddenly slash prices. Sales in each liquor shop close to the border rose from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2-2.5 crore after AP increased the prices of liquor.
Erstwhile Khammam district liquor shops association president Bandi Vishnuvardhan Rao said that those who got licences to set up shops close to the border would now have to incur heavy losses. “It is a stroke a bad luck of huge proportion,” he said.