The approval was made in a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday night.
The new UP excise policy will likely benefit the residents of Delhi — liquor stores in the Capital have faced a crisis of options and stock for more than two years, after the city’s 2021-22 excise policy was rolled back in August 2022.
So far, customers in Delhi were forced to buy their bottles from neighbouring Gurugram, where liquor is significantly cheaper and options more varied. The new UP excise policy, which may introduce greater varieties to the state, will likely give the Capital’s residents an alternative to Gurugram, which can be quite a drive from east and north Delhi — these parts of the city border Ghaziabad and Noida.
Announcing the new features of the excise police at a press briefing in Lucknow, UP excise commissioner Dr Adarsh Singh said the state will now have three types of liquor vends — model shops, country liquor shops, and composite shops.
“One will get foreign liquor, wine and beer at composite shops. There will not be separate licenses for beer shops, as now beer will be sold either from composite shops or at country-made liquor shops only,” Singh said.
Sharing more about composite shops, Singh said, “The concept is already running in other states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and most southern states. The threshold for composite shops will not exceed the total number of beer shops and foreign liquor shops. This will be applicable in each district. We will not increase the number of shops in any case. It may decrease in some districts though.”
Gautam Budh Nagar excise officer Subodh Kumar said the new policy aims to streamline liquor sales while enhancing revenue generation. “By allowing beer sales only at composite or country liquor shops, we expect better regulation and business consolidation. The introduction of a lottery system will also create opportunities for new entrants in the sector, making the process more transparent and competitive”, he said.
“Previously, traditional liquor shops had separate segments, except for country-made liquor. Now, these will be integrated, offering a wider range of products under one roof. However, country liquor will remain separate, considering its distinct customer base,” he added.
Commissioner Singh also shared that under the new policy, the licence fee will be reduced for low alcoholic bars — where beer and wine will be sold — in Ghaziabad, Noida, Agra, and Lucknow districts — as well as resto-bars, which can serve wine and beer.
“We are also introducing a provision for wineries, where they can open a shop in each district at a very nominal licence fee to sell their products, which will also help farmers in selling their fruits which are used in wine,” Singh said.
“We have tried to blend tourism with brewery and wineries, as is the case in Nasik, Maharashtra. People can go to these places for tourism as well. In UP, vineyards are coming up in the Malihabad area and Muzaffarnagar. There is also a brewery in Sonbhadra for which there was a demand. This was an untapped area. Other states were doing it already, now we are also going ahead with it,” the excise commissioner said.
The UP policy also aims to realise a revenue of ₹60,000 crore — ₹10,000 crore more than the previous year — by proposing an increase in the excise duty on country and Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in the state. In addition, the government has proposed the introduction of an e-lottery system for the allocation of liquor shops, as well as allowing low alcoholic bars in select cities. The e-lottery system is also applicable to retail shops of bhaang.
UP minister of state (independent charge) for excise and prohibition Nitin Agarwal said no individual will be allotted more than two shops across the state.
“In the interest of revenue, the arrangement of liquor shops will be done through e-lottery and the option of renewal of all the shops thus arranged will be available for the year 2026-27,” Agarwal said.
“A maximum of two shops can be allotted to a person in the entire state in the e-lottery process. The licences of premium retail vend shops will be renewed on the application of the licensee under the liabilities / restrictions prescribed for the year 2025-26,” he said.
Liquor associations in Noida said that the reduction in licence fees for beer bars will be a welcome move.
“The composite liquor vend is a welcome move as liquor vends can also sell beer. Earlier for selling beer one had to get a separate licence and establish a separate shop. Now both have been combined,” said Ashok Yadav, who operates liquor and beer shops in Noida and Greater Noida.
However, some liquor vendors also expressed their unhappiness at the e-lottery system, expressing concern over the unused stock of model shops, which they claimed could cause huge losses to the retailers.
Another liquor vend operator said, “Since 2018, only those vends whose licences weren’t renewed, were up for auction through the lottery system. But from the next financial year, all licences will be distributed through e-lottery system. This has put us in a fix, because we have invested heavily in stock and commercial establishments. We are keeping our fingers crossed and urging state government to have a recoil at this policy.”
Singh said the state has tried to take care of its retailers.
“Whenever there is a lottery there are some ticklish issues, but we have tried to take care of our retailers to some extent,” he said.
(With inputs from Maria Khan, Noida)
