UP holds 1st phase of e-lottery for 27,000 liquor shops
What's the story
The Uttar Pradesh Excise Department has started the first phase of its e-lottery for retail liquor shops.
The event is underway at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan (Jupiter Hall) from 10:00am to 4:45pm.
The purpose of this lottery is to distribute licenses for 27,308 liquor shops across the state.
A total of 414,679 applicants are competing for the licenses, each having an equal opportunity to win a maximum of two shops anywhere in Uttar Pradesh.
Intense battle
High competition for liquor shop licenses in 5 districts
The e-lottery has triggered cut-throat competition in five districts- Gautam Budh Nagar, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, and Varanasi.
Gautam Budh Nagar tops the list with 18,231 applications for 501 shops.
Lucknow closely follows with 17,605 applications for its 1,041 shops.
As many as 15,368 contenders have flocked to Gorakhpur's 580 shops while Prayagraj and Varanasi have received 13,062 and 12,416 applications, respectively.
Allocation process
E-lottery platform to generate allocation orders post-draw
To take part in the e-lottery, applicants need to carry their photo, registration slip from the e-lottery portal, and an original ID card like Aadhaar or PAN.
Representatives have to pick an entry card from the district excise officer's office in Lucknow before the event.
After the draw, allocation orders will be generated by the e-lottery platform.
Successful applicants will be informed through SMS and they will have three working days to pay the full basic license fee online.