Lucknow: Beer will soon be available at more than 3,000 country liquor shops across Uttar Pradesh, thanks to a new move by the state government aimed at offering more choices to consumers and boosting state revenue.
Under the new excise policy effective from April 1, the government is allowing beer cans and bottles to be sold at 1,138 additional country liquor outlets. These shops will be upgraded with separate beer counters — but only in areas where there’s no composite liquor shop (which sells multiple types of alcohol) within a 3-kilometer radius. This step alone is expected to generate around ₹150 crore in licensing fees.
The Excise Department has already started the process to upgrade a total of 3,138 country liquor shops for this purpose. These will be in addition to the existing 9,362 composite shops currently selling beer.
Before granting permission, local surveys are being carried out to ensure that the new beer counters don’t affect the business of existing composite shop owners, who pay significantly higher license fees.
Officials and stakeholders say the demand for beer has risen sharply in recent years. One key reason is the changing weather — shorter winters and higher temperatures. In 2019-20, 35.15 crore units (each 650 ml) of beer were sold in UP. That number jumped to 53.6 crore units in 2023-24 — a 63% increase.
“Young people prefer beer because it’s easy to drink — no glass or water needed, and the cans can be thrown away after use,” said Devesh Jaiswal, a liquor shop co-owner in Talkatora, Lucknow.
According to Excise Commissioner Adarsh Singh, the total number of liquor shops in UP will rise from 9,362 to around 12,518 after these upgrades. This expansion will not only bring in license revenue but also boost collections through excise duty on beer throughout the year.
The state government has set a revenue target of ₹63,000 crore for the financial year 2025-26. To reach that goal, the Excise Department needs to earn ₹10,425 crore more than last year’s collection of ₹52,575 crore. With the new beer sale plan, they expect ₹150 crore from license fees and another ₹1,000–₹1,600 crore from beer-related excise duty.
