The UDF is set to overhaul the LDF’s ‘tolerant’ liquor policy as it prepares to announce it on 30

The Congress-led sub-committee of the United Democratic Front (UDF) government, which has formulated the liquor policy for the fiscal year 2026-27, is said to be ready to overhaul the allegedly “relaxed” state excise rules from the previous exemption of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

Excise Minister M. Liju told The Hindu that the UDF would “remove the rules and amendments” that gave Deputy Excise Commissioners the power to grant bar licences. Instead, he said, the makers of the new liquor policy would entrust such authority to the political executive.

Mr Liju declined to speculate on whether the substance of the UDF’s upcoming liquor policy, to be announced by the government on November 30, would be restrictive or a limited throwback to the Oommen Chandy government’s 2014 decision to close more than 700 bars, allegedly to curb the easy availability of liquor and reduce liquor consumption instead of reducing liquor and beer consumption.

Instead, Mr. Liju merely noted that the previous LDF government had restored 488 bar licenses revoked by the Oommen Chandy government by “diluting” the vetting process and empowering the bureaucracy of the Excise Department to violate or circumvent policy matters that are the sole prerogative of the political executive.

Mr Liju said the government would decide whether to issue more licences, including 29 new applicants, only after announcing the UDF excise policy.

Senior excise officials privy to the policy-making process said the UDF will strip the Deputy Commissioner of Excise of the statutory authority granted by the previous LDF permit to reclassify wineries and pubs as bars if the outlets get four-star classification and issue new licenses to new applicants.

They said the UDF could also scrap a provision allowing closed bars to renew their licenses within 24 hours of applying and propose a stricter and more restrictive vetting process. They said the government was unlikely to allow “overcrowding of bars” in a relatively small circle. “Issuing up to 15 bar licenses within a radius of 1 or 2 km is against the political mandate of the UDF to gradually reduce the consumption of hard liquor,” the official said.

The UDF’s liquor policy makers appear to have walked a tightrope between the state’s fiscal demands and social, religious and political sensitivities, including public health and family welfare concerns, centered around liquor consumption. Notably, Keralam has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the country.

Officials said the government must take into account that states get independent revenue from liquor and fuel taxes, with the nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST) replacing a number of state levies.

Moreover, a significant portion of the legal liquor consumed in Kerala is imported from other states, resulting in significant revenue outflows, another financial fact that the sub-committee would reportedly consider with due seriousness.

According to UDF insiders, the government has been reluctant to further increase the state subsidy on fuel, given the specter of rising prices, higher commuting costs, inflation and opposition protests.

Published – 03 Nov 2026 16:14 IST