Liquor licence draw: Businessmen offer Rs 2 crore for each shop in Telangana's Khammam

HYDERABAD: The next general assembly elections, as well as the anticipated high volume of sales, have prompted some liquor retailers to offer up to Rs 2 crore in goodwill for each shop to individuals who won the licence draw in Khammam district. These retailers want to open stores in their name, assuming profitable sales in the next two years.
“Many were approached to sublease their licences, particularly in reserved quotas.Some were offered Rs 2 crore as goodwill for the shop in the category of Rs 60 lakh licence fees, some have given back their licences and some were confused,” a source close to liquor lobbying revealed.
Depending on the location and previous sales in that area, the goodwill price ranged from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore.
The lobbyists have worked hard this time to obtain licences, with some filing more than 100 applications for some outlets. “Most of these people have been in the business for a long time, and some of them are close to political parties too,” they said. On the other hand, many Telangana businessmen concentrated on bidding for shops with belt shops. Negotiations for an increase in the number of applications have been ongoing in recent days. Most of this lobbying took place in Khammam district, which received approximately 7,000 applications for only 217 shops. Sources also said that 50% of the applications came from Andhra Pradesh businessmen.
According to an analysis, sales in village-level shops in the state average around Rs 10 crore, with a shop in Jubilee Hills having the highest annual turnover of Rs 60 crore.
According to the guidelines, no draws will be held for shops that receive fewer than 10 applications, so the lucky draw for 63 shops has been postponed. Interestingly, the district of Medchal Malkalgiri in Hyderabad’s suburbs had the most shops where the draw was halted due to a lack of applications.