Delhi govt incurred loss of over ₹2,000 crore due to liquor policy: CAG report

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on Feb 25 has blamed cumulative losses of over ₹2,002.68 crore on Delhi's previous Aam Aadmi Party government's 2021-22 liquor policy due to its weak framework and inefficient implementation.

This report is one of the 14 on the former government's performance which is to be tabled in the Delhi Assembly.

It claims that there have been violations in the issuance of licenses while alleging that an expert panel's recommendations suggesting changes in the now-scrapped policy, were ignored by then deputy chief minister and excise minister Manish Sisodia.

The report has divided the losses into various subheads with the first being a loss of ₹941.53 crore because liquor shops were not allowed to open in areas that did not conform to land use norms for opening liquor vends - under the new policy.

Another big loss mentioned is ₹890.15 crore because of tenders not being issued for 19 zones where licenses had been surrendered.

"Consequently, no excise revenue accrued as licence fee from these zones in the months after surrender. Notably, no other contingent arrangement was put in place to continue liquor retail in these zones," the report states.

It also highlighted a revenue loss of ₹144 crore due to fee waivers granted to licensees under the pretext of COVID-19 and ₹27 crore due to the "incorrect collection" of security deposits from zonal licensees. Altogether, these four subheads amount to ₹2,002.68 crore.

The Assembly witnessed a huge uproar from opposition leading to 15 of AAP MLAs being suspended.

The controversial liquor policy has been troubling for the previous AAP government with many of its prominent leaders, including then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, landing in jail.

The allegations of corruption are seen as a major reason for AAP losing the Delhi Assembly elections this month as BJP regained the power of Delhi after 26 years.