Lift ban on alcohol, Mallya tells Modi

Liquor-baron Vijay Mallya today virtually asked the Gujarat government to lift prohibition in force in the state.

Saying that "blanket prohibition has never worked in this free world," Mallya, in the wake of recent hooch tragedy in the state which claimed more than 100 lives, said his United Breweries Group would be ready to work with the Gujarat government in revisiting its alcohol beverage policy.

"The UB Group stands ready to work with the Government of Gujarat to introduce a responsible beverage consumption policy with appropriate warning and restraint," the UB Group Chairman said in a statement.

Mallya said the liquor prohibition in the state had failed to stop the illegal, unhygienic and unsupervised production of deadly spurious liquor, which is very dangerous for people of the state.

Mallya said the death of over 100 people resulting from the consumption of spurious alcohol is not only tragic but should serve as "a wake-up call to our political hypocrites."

"Chief Minister Narendra Modi knows fully well that every brand of alcohol is available in the state of Gujarat at two or three times the price charged in neighbouring states. This means that the government of Gujarat is losing thousands of crores in potential revenue." he said.