Amaravati, Aug 7 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Excise Minister K Ravindra on Wednesday said a new liquor policy will be implemented from October 1, which will put an end to spurious brands. The minister made this announcement following a meeting with the representatives of top liquor companies at the Secretariat today. "We are working towards bringing up a new liquor policy by October 1.
For that, we are studying good liquor policies. We are giving importance to make quality brands available," said Ravindra in an official release. According to the minister, the erstwhile TDP government between 2014 and 2019 treated liquor only as a private business, enabling the availability of all brands available across the country.
However, he alleged that the previous YSRCP government in 2019 saw liquor as a source of income. He also claimed that it even went to the extent of harming consumers' lives. When there were digital payments all over the country for liquor sales, Ravindra said that the YSRCP government had only made the cash mode available to allegedly loot thousands of crores of rupees.
"Consumers were deprived of the luxury of choosing the brands they liked, compelling buyers to purchase only available liquor brands," he said. Moreover, the minister alleged that spurious liquor led to several deaths and ill health among consumers. He vowed that all the liquor irregularities which occurred between 2019 and 2024 would be brought into the public domain.
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