Hyderabad: The Prohibition and the Excise department is reportedly raiding belt shops across Telangana in tune with the newly elected Congress party’s promise in the manifesto to shut all of them down across the state.
The term “belt shops” is commonly used to refer to unauthorised shops selling liquor in close proximity to licensed liquor outlets. They often function as extensions of those outlets.
Many of these shops are thriving by encouraging liquor addicts to purchase on credit. This is leading to a heavy burden of debt among people in towns and villages. These shops in particular are reportedly under the tight scrutiny of the department.
“These liquor outlets are unauthorised and the excise department is responsible for shutting them down,” sources from the office of the Excise Commissioner said.
They further added that “Sale of liquor from utauthorised belt shops is rampant in small-time general stores in villages where (Kirana) general store merchants, in their attempt to make some fast buck, are supplying liquor on credit.”
It is learned that there are at least 10 shops in some of the villages where Kirana shop owners are selling liquor on credit with limits up to Rs 5000 to 8000 per month.
In October 2023 (until October 24), the sale of alcohol touched Rs 2,055 crore. Data revealed that 19.5 lakh cases of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and 34.2 lakh cases of beer were sold in this month.
