Proposal to lift prohibition in Bihar turned down

The representative body of leading Indian alcobev companies, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) has urged the Bihar government to lift a “complete ban” on liquor in the state, on the lines of the Manipur government’s decision.

In response to CIBAC’s request, Bihar’s Prohibition and Excise Minister, Sunil Kumar has turned down the industry body’s proposal by saying that prohibition was a policy decision of the Bihar government after being unanimously passed by the state legislatures and there was no possibility to withdraw it.

In 2016, Bihar adopted total prohibition in the state and since then it has relaxed rules a number of times but smuggling and manufacturing of spurious liquor and proliferation of drugs, and incidents of death due to drinking of illicit liquor in the state have raised concerns about its implementation on ground.