Gandhinagar: It has been approximately one week since the government of Gujarat, in a surprising move, relaxed its liquor prohibition policy by allowing the consumption of liquor in the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) area in Gandhinagar. Now on Saturday, the state government has issued a Gazette notification with a set of guidelines and conditions about liquor consumption in GIFT. The notification includes various forms such as the APPLICATION FORM FOR F.L.-III LICENCE, APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF LIQUOR ACCESS PERMIT, APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF TEMPORARY PERMIT, and LIQUOR ACCESS PERMIT, etc.

Gujarat Government Gazette dated 30th December 2023 states:

GUJARAT PROHIBITION ACT, 1949.

No.GHG/204/VDR/102020/977/E.1:- in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (c) read with clauses (b) and (f) of sub-section (1) and sub-section (2) of section 139 of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949 (Bom. XXV of 1949), the Government of Gujarat hereby exempts,

• ~ The persons working at or visiting (for Official Purpose) the area of Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), from the provisions of the section 40,40A and 40B of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949; and
• ~The F.L. III Licensees, from the provisions of Sections 33, 34, 43 and 58A of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949 (herein after referred to as the Act) and from the provisions of rules 5, 25, 63, 64, 64-A and 64-B of the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953,

Subject to the following conditions, namely:-

Conditions :-

1. Any Unit situated in GIFT City, desiring to obtain L. – III license shall apply to the Superintendent of Prohibition and Excise, Gandhinagar in Form “A”. After due verification, the Superintendent of Prohibition and Excise shall send the proposal with his recommendation, through the Director to the GIFT Facilitation Committee for appropriate decision. After approval by the Committee, the Superintendent of Prohibition and Excise shall issue the license in Form F.L. – III.

2. The Licensee shall serve liquor for consumption in the approved Wine and Dine facility area only.

3. The Licensee shall serve liquor only to Liquor Access Permit holders / Temporary Permit holders.

4. L. III License/Liquor Access Permit/ Temporary Permit may be suspended or cancelled under the provisions of section 54 or 56 of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949.

5. In case the F.L. – III License is cancelled or suspended during the currency of its validity period or is not renewed on its expiry, the licensee shall surrender the whole stock of unsold liquor/unconsumed stock of liquor forthwith to the Superintendent of Prohibition and The stock of liquor so surrendered shall be sold by the Superintendent of Prohibition and Excise and the proceeds of the sale shall, after deducting the expenses and any sum due to the State Government, be returned to the licensee.

6. The License can be issued for a period of one year to five years initially. Subsequently, it can be renewed up to five years at a time. The fees for F.L.-III license shall be Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh) only per annum and Security Deposit shall be 2,00,000/-(Rupees two lakhs) only.

7. The Licensee can purchase liquor from any FL-I license in the state or from outside the State as per Gujarat Foreign Liquor (Import and Export) Rules, 1965 and Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953.

8. As F.L. III license is granted only for the specified period, it shall not give the licensee, his/her heirs, legal representatives or assignees, any claim whatsoever to the continuance or renewal thereof beyond the said period.

9. The licensee/Liquor Access Permit/ Temporary Permit holder shall comply with the provisions of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949.

10. The Recommending officer shall prepare a list of employee(s) desiring to obtain Liquor Access Permit and shall send the same to the Authorized Officer. The Authorized Officer, shall send the approved list to Authorized Person(s); Superintendent of Prohibition & Excise and Recommending Officer. The Authorized Officer shall issue Liquor Access Permit cards on basis of the approved list of employees and send the same to Recommending Officer.

11. The Recommending officer shall prepare a list of Visitor(s) desiring to obtain Temporary Permit. One Liquor Access Permit holder of the concerned Company/Organization/Unit shall be required to accompany such Visitor(s) in the Wine and Dine area.

12. The Liquor Access Permit/ Temporary Permit holder must have attained the age of 21 years.

13. The Liquor Access Permit shall be issued for Two years and can be renewed for two years at a time. The fees for the permit shall be 1000/- per annum. Meanwhile, if the permit holder ceases to be an employee of Company/ Organization/ Unit at GIFT City, the permit shall stand cancelled.

14. The Temporary permit for Visitor(s) can be issued by the recommending officer for a single day only. The recommending officer may issue a fresh temporary permit for the same visitor(s) as and when required.

15. GIFT Facilitation Committee shall be the final authority regarding interpretation of this order.

16. FL- III License holder is permitted to serve Liquor only to Liquor Access Permit and Temporary permit holders.