HYDERABAD: Hic hic hurray! There will be 74 more bars in Hyderabad in addition to the existing 2,000. The devotees of Bacchus need not look far to find a bar to drown their sorrow or celebrate their happy moments. The Prohibition and Excise Department has received over 7,500 applications for grant of licences for 159 new bars in the State till Monday.
Those licences would go to the applicants whose names will be picked through a draw of lots to be held after Tuesday, the last date for submission of applications. With the addition of new bars, their total number in Telangana will be go up to 5,790. According to the Excise Department officials, 74 of 159 bars will be established in Hyderabad.
Until last week the Excise Department has registered over 7,300 applications wherein each applicant had to pay Rs 1 lakh non-refundable fee. An official from the department told Express that 1,038 applicants were from Hyderabad.
Based on 2011 census, the Excise Department has fixed excise tax for four slabs. Municipalities, Urban Local Bodies within the 50,000 population area will have to pay Rs 30 lakh, those between 50,000 and five lakh population will pay a fee of Rs 42 lakh. While Municipal Corporations, peripheral areas of the city with, a population of five to 20 lakh will have to pay Rs 44 lakh in the fee.
The highest fee of Rs 49 lakh is for suburbs with more than 20 lakh population. In 2019, when the Excise Department invited applications for the 2,216 wine shops, it received 45,000 applications with each applicant paying Rs 2 lakh non-refundable fee. Just through application fee, the State earned a revenue of over Rs 900 crore.