The ban on the sale of liquor within 500 meters of highways in the country would mean a probable loss of Rs 50000 crore for several state governments. This, because a list of prominent hotel chains, like the Taj, Oberoi, Hyatt and Accor groups will now have to stop serving alcohol to guests at their premium locations, thus denting the
estimated revenue of state governments, which they would have earned from these hotels in form of taxes.
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Riyaaz Amlani, president of the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), told ET that along with this loss to the governments, restaurants, bars and pubs will also be taking a hit of Rs 10,000-15,000 crore, and 100,000 people will be out of work.
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However, as per a tweet by Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, the ban would impact jobs of around 1 million people.
The country houses over a third of liquor outlets around national and state highways, which means that this ban would result in a deep impact on the liquor industry and state governments’ pockets.
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In order to avoid this, some state administrations have even changed the nomenclature of state highways to district roads.
(Image source New Indian Express)