Bhubaneswar: No new liquor shops shall be opened in Odisha anymore, says Excise Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan on Thursday. This is a major announcement made by the minister today.
According to reports, the minister further said that the main challenge with the Excise ministry of Odisha is to prevent the sale of illegal liquor in the Odisha market. The objective is to completely stop the sale of liquor without tax.
A new regulation will be brought in the Odisha Excise policy in this regard. The loopholes in the excise rules will be identified and eradicated.
Speaking to media persons, he said that the government has decided not to give licenses for the opening of new liquor shops across the state.
“To make the existing excise policy spontaneous, we have decided that no liquor shop will be opened in the state. We are trying to address the complications in the existing excise policy. However, the sale of illegal liquor is a major challenge for us. To ban the illegal liquor sale, we are making some changes to the existing excise policy for the next 7-8 months,”
He announced that the sale of illegal liquor would be completely banned as per a new excise policy that will be introduced in 2025.
“A new excise policy will come up next year through which we will make a way to ban the sale of illegal liquor in the state,” Harichandan said.
Earlier on June 15, the Odisha I and PR department clarified on circulation of fake news on ban of liquor in the state. The Information and Public Relations Department Government of Odisha clarified that, the news that all forms of liquor will be banned in Odisha is completely baseless.