UP Liquor shops to remain open in Noida, Varanasi & others amid COVID lockdown; find timings here

Varanasi: The authorities have allowed liquor shops in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi and Gautam Buddh Nagar districts to operate from today. As per the official orders, wine shops in Varanasi are allowed to remain open from 7 am to 1 pm. In Noida, which falls under the Gautam Buddh Nagar district, the liquor shops will reportedly stay open from 10 am to 7 pm.

On Monday, the Liquor Welfare Association in Uttar Pradesh had written a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking the opening of the liquor shops that were shut due to the COVID-19-induced curfew in the state.

Wine traders:

"Wine traders are in a dilemma as the GO of state is not clear about the opening of liquor shops. The wine traders generate revenue of more than Rs 100 crore per day in the state. We are given a monthly quota and if we fail to meet that, we are under the threat of losing the license," Hindustan Times mentioned LWA vice president Vikas Srivastava as saying.

"The wine shops are suffering a constant loss due to closure for one reason or another that is why we need the permission to open the shops to minimise personal losses and maximise the revenue collection of the state government. We hope that the chief minister will understand the problems of the wine traders and hope that he will allow us to open shops for a few hours during the lockdown too," added Srivastava.

From May 4, liquor prices in Uttar Pradesh were increased after the state government started imposing a 'corona cess'. According to the state excise department order, the prices of liquor have risen by Rs 10-40 per bottle.

The cess of Rs 10 has been imposed on regular-premium category liquor, Rs 20 on the super premiere, Rs 30 on scotch and Rs 40 on liquor imported from abroad.

COVID in UP

The state on Tuesday reported 20,463 fresh cases. While 29,358 people are discharged in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours. The Uttar Pradesh government had on May 9 extended the partial corona curfew till May 17 in the state to break the chain of coronavirus infections.

Stay tuned with newstrack to get fastest updates. Click @englishnewstrack to follow us on Facebook and @newstrackmedia to follow on Twitter.