Bars in Kerala to open today

Liquor price hike ordinance
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Bars and beer and wine parlours, which have remained shut in Kerala since March in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus on orders of the government, will open on Tuesday, Manorama News reported.

The development came following a meeting between Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday.

The association of bars and hotels owners have repeatedly approached the State to have the bars reopened citing heavy losses.

During the last few months of the lockdown, the State had allowed sales at bars and beer parlours as parcels given through specific counters to customers who made a booking through the BevQ app.

With bars set to reopen tomorrow, this service will be stopped.

Instead, parcel services will be made exclusively through Bevco outlets and Consumerfed.

The working hours of Bevco outlets and Consumerfed have also been revised. They are now open from 10 am to 9 pm.

More details will be issued by way of a special order by the Excise Commissioner.

The decision came despite the health department raising concerns that opening bars may lead to a spike in COVID cases during this holiday season.

Sale of liquor and beer is one of the biggest revenue earners in Kerala. In the last fiscal, the state garnered Rs 14,504.67 crore from liquor sales alone.

An earlier study conducted in Kerala revealed that around 32.9 lakh people - 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women - consume liquor. Around five lakh people consume liquor daily.

There are 596 bars and 350 beer and wine parlours in Kerala.

Many states including Punjab, Bengal, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have already allowed bars to open.

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