CIABC welcomes Manipur govt’s move to lift liquor ban, seeks similar action from Bihar CM

Welcoming the Manipur government’s move to lift the ban on liquor in the state, the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the apex body of Indian alcoholic beverages industry, has once again urged the Bihar government to end prohibition in the state to boost its economy, end unlawful trade of poor quality alcohol in state, and avert hooch tragedies.

“By ending over three-decade long prohibition, the Manipur government has taken a positive step forward which would not only earn Rs 600-700 crore as annual tax revenues, but also help tackle the menace of sale of illegal liquor and spread of drugs. It is going to give a major fillip to the state’s economic growth.” said CIABC Director General, Vinod Giri.

CIABC said that the Bihar Government should also follow suit and lift prohibition which has crippled the growth and development of Bihar and led to so many deaths due to hooch tragedies.

“Bihar is paying a heavy price of the prohibition policy in the form of proliferation of unlawful and spurious liquor, hooch tragedies, rise of crime syndicates and loss of legitimate Government revenues. Bihar’s growth and development has been affected as the state is losing out on revenue from the legitimate liquor trade which is estimated at around Rs. 10,000 crore per annum. Repeated hooch tragedies have so far seen over 300 deaths since 2016, close to 5 lakh cases are pending in courts clogging justice delivery system, and around 3 lakh people have been put behind bars for something which rest of country finds perfectly lawful. Liquor mafia has been thriving in the state. Keeping all these aspects in mind, we have been urging the Bihar government to end prohibition and open up liquor trade in the state in a responsible manner,” said Giri.

Giri further said the CIABC has been urging Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to end prohibition in a manner that the government is able to get revenues for the state’s development without compromising on the desired social goals.

“We have even suggested that liquor factories would keep 50 per cent of their workforce as women leading to true economic empowerment of women. We have also proposed a special cess on sale of liquor to fund alcohol de-addiction & rehabilitation centres,”

he added.