Lucknowites, you can soon get booze till 4am in the city!

Lucknow has been a hotbed of development and in recent months, the city has seen changes for the best, good and the worst too. Adding to the bandwagon of good news in the city, is a permit which is making owners and goers of luxury hotels and bars happy.

The excise department has given a nod to starred hotels and bars in UP cities, to serve alcohol till 4 am and 2 am respectively and all of it will come at an additional cost. So now cities like Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra, Meerut amidst others, will have this facility, April onwards.

What's Happening?

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To be implemented from the 1st of April, this new policy is aimed primarily to cater to the demands of tourists and foreign investors, which in return might bolster tourism of the state. This policy will also enable the government to mop up additional revenue and will also put up a stop to under-the-table activities related to liquor beyond the admissible hours.

The decision will be implemented in starred hotels in prominent cities of the state, especially the ones where foreigners are expected to throng. However, the regular bars in smaller cities, wanting to serve liquor beyond the usual pre-set hours, would be required to take permission and pay a hefty price.

According to a report by TOI, Sanjay Bhoosreddy, principal secretary of the excise department, stated, " For all bars located in these areas, time can be extended up to 2 am. Three, four and five-star hotels can open bars up to 4 am."

Till now, under the excise policy for 2019-20, luxury hotels are allowed to sell or serve liquor from 10 am to midnight. For an additional payment of 0.125 million ( ₹1.25 lakh), the hotels can extend the serving time till 1 am.

The UP government has also decided that beer shops in the state, will also be allowed to sell wines, which is something that was not allowed earlier.

Knock Knock

This change in rule is a step forward to put Lucknow at par with other cities and their nightlife but liquor store owners need to know, that this doesn't apply to their retail stores.

Lucknow has been witnessing a thriving nightlife in the recent times and this regulation will surely appeal to the party-goers in town.