Lucknow: The new excise policy for the financial year 2025-26 announced by the Uttar Pradesh government is set to fundamentally change how alcoholic beverages are sold across the state. Once implemented, it will enable sale of domestic liquor and beer for consumption at a single license, bringing in major relief to restaurateur and café owners.
As per new guidelines, establishments in larger cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Agra, and Luxor, to name a few, will no longer be required to obtain a full bar license to serve beer and wine on the premises. The new category of “low-alcohol bars” has allowed restaurant owners to sell these items at a much lower price compared to before. A full bar license earlier cost about ₹10 to ₹15 lakhs; now they can get one for ₹4 lakhs.
It will enter into effect on 1 March 2025, with detailed rules expected to be forthcoming. Excited restaurant owners in Noida and Ghaziabad have shown willingness to benefit from this opportunity.
Varun Khera, President, National Restaurant Association of India, welcomed the initiative, saying that the high fees for full bar licenses were dissuading many owners from taking it. He said permitting the sale of beer and wine will help restaurants become more profitable.
On relief over policy changes, Alma Bakery and Café owner in Noida’s Sector 104 said, “As a small business, we cannot get permits easily, so we were only open for takeout.” This is an improvement over the overpriced private party licenses we previously had to pay for. We can now afford to incorporate beer and wine at our stores on a daily basis to serve to our customers,” he said.
The government aims to increase its previous earnings by ₹4,000 crores and generate ₹55,000 crores over the lifetime of the new excise policy as revenue for the state. This policy will allocate all liquor shop licenses through e-lottery starting this year.
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