TNI Bureau: Beach shacks to be opened indifferent locations of Odisha under the New excise policy, which was announced by the State government yesterday.

According to report, the beach shacks will be opened in the State to promote tourism. However, the license will only be granted to the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC).

Under the new excise policy, which will come into effect from April 1, the State government hiked the cost of India-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from April as it has increased the application fee for issuing licences for “OFF Shop”.

The Excise department has increased the application fee for new/renewal of ‘OFF shops’ to Rs 1.2 lakh from Rs 1.1 lakh.

Besides, the minimum guaranteed quantity (MGQ) and retailer fee have also been increased in the new excise policy.

Moreover, the annual composite label registration fee for FL OFF shops and FL ON shops for the sale of all brands has been fixed at Rs 50,000.n

With the hike of the application fee, the IMFL price is expected to go up for the consumers.

While no new licence for IMFL OFF shops in the state will be issued during the 2023-24 financial year, the OFF shops have been permitted to undertake modernisation of their outlets during the year. However, the licence for ON shop for the sale of IMFL and bars will only be issued only in selected hotels in the urban areas of the State.

The Excise Commissioner will give bar licence to only the hotels that have a prescribed number of rooms.

This apart, no licence will be issued to open new IMFL “ON Shop” in rural areas.