Lucknow: The excise department concluded the third round of the lottery draw for leftover model shops in Lucknow, failing to find any takers.While composite shops have been usurped, entrepreneurs having a background in the liquor business are hesitant to operate model shops. Citing lack of financial viability, 41% of the model shop owners pulled out from the business during this fiscal.Till Mar 31, Lucknow was home to 572 country liquor shops, 400 composite shops and 56 model shops. However, presently only 507 country liquor shops, 399 composite shops and just 33 model shops are catering to liquor patrons in the city. Though the licence fees have been reduced by 10% compared to what was paid to operate model shops and country liquor shops last time, retailers continue to avoid the business.“Till the time financial viability of the retail shop operations improve, nobody who understands the liquor business will be interested in running a model shop. The excise department needs to rationalise the licence fees too, as paying crores of rupees to obtain the licence of a model shop is not lucrative for a businessman who is suffering from financial losses within a year,” said spokesperson of the liquor traders’ association in the state, Devesh Jaiswal.In the prime pocket of Gomtinagar, the four model shops that existed till Mar 31 have not been renewed. Two of them are being operated over temporary licences currently, an alternative arrangement provided by the excise department to existing retailers under which they can pay up a portion of the licence fees to operate the shops for a short period to find out its feasibility.The licence fees of the model shop situated close to Husadia crossing was brought down from Rs2.18 crore to Rs 1.96 crore. “But it is still not profitable to operate this shop as it does not get that much crowd from the time composite shops have opened in multiple places in Gomtinagar,” said another retailer from the city.District excise officer of Lucknow, Karunendra Singh, said, “We are urging the existing retailers to improve the ambience and interiors of the model shops. That way they would be able to generate increased footfall as people look for affordable watering holes. Simultaneously, we are coordinating with the police department to carry out a sustained drive against the restaurants and canteens that are allowing consumption of liquor on their premises in an illegal manner.”Similarly, the department is trying to convince the country liquor shop owners about the changed policy framework that would encourage increased sale volumes for multiple brands and products. “In country liquor segment, one company completely dominates the demand within the cities and urban pockets. We hope to see some turnaround this time as the policy has been revised to encourage offtake of other liquor brands as well,” said a retailer who exited from the business after operating a shop in Narhi locality of Hazratganj.
