Ladakh admin rolls back ‘New Excise Policy’ amid opposition from civil society, religious bodies

20-vend expansion scrapped; 2025-26 framework restored, revised licence fees retained

Leh: Facing opposition from sections of civil society and religious bodies over the expansion of liquor outlets in Ladakh, the UT Administration has substantially rolled back its newly notified Excise Policy 2026-27, restoring the Excise Policy 2025-26 as the governing framework for grant, renewal and regulation of licences.

In a press release, the Excise Department stated “The decision follows representations received by the Administration against the new policy, with Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena deciding that the earlier policy will continue with certain modifications.”

The most significant reversal concerns the proposed expansion of retail liquor outlets. The new policy had envisaged auctioning 20 newly proposed retail vend locations, marking a major departure from the existing arrangement. The Administration has now cancelled the Notice Inviting Auction issued on June 1 for these 20 locations and ordered that a fresh auction for only two existing locations be issued. The Earnest Money Deposit and registration fees deposited by bidders in the cancelled auction will also be refunded.

The decision effectively takes Ladakh back to the 2025-26 licensing regime, although it does not amount to a complete withdrawal of the 2026-27 policy. While the categories of licences, eligibility conditions and procedures will follow the 2025-26 policy, licence fees will continue to be charged as prescribed under S.O. 198 dated May 31, 2026. Excise duty will also remain at the level prescribed under the 2025-26 policy.

The two retail vends that will now be permitted under the modified arrangement can sell liquor with an alcohol content of up to 15 per cent v/v, significantly narrowing the scope of the expansion envisaged under the new policy.

The rollback comes against the backdrop of strong reservations expressed in sections of Ladakh’s civil society and by religious bodies over what was seen as an expansion of liquor availability in the Union Territory. The Administration’s release, however, does not identify the organisations that submitted representations or spell out their individual demands. It states only that the Lieutenant Governor considered the representations received regarding the new policy before taking the decision.

The Excise Department said the decision was taken with the objective of ensuring “continuity, consistency and clarity” in implementation of the excise policy in Ladakh. The latest order therefore represents a significant policy course correction: the Administration has retained the revised fee structure of the new policy but abandoned its most visible expansionary measure—the proposed increase in retail liquor outlets from two to 20.