Excluding containment areas of Bengaluru, liquor shops to open from 9 am to 7pm

Liquor stores will be open in Bengaluru from May 4 except in containment zones. The MSIL stores will remain open from 9 am to 7pm starting Monday.

Bengaluru: According to government sources, MSIL shops will be open from May 4 in Bengaluru excluding containment areas of the city. The timing for the shops is 9 am to 7pm. Meanwhile, bars in Karnataka will remain shut.

A day ago, the excise minister H Nagesh said the Karnataka government wants to open the shops after lockdown ends on Sunday, but they are waiting for the guidelines from the Central government to take a final decision. The state government is keen to open liquor shops from Monday (May 4) as it is losing around Rs 60 crore revenue every day.

Earlier, according to reports, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) clarified that liquor stores will be allowed to open in both orange and green zones. The MHA also added that in the red zones too, liquor stores are allowed, as long as they are standalone shops and not part of a market complex or a mall.

The Karnataka government has decided to appeal to the Centre to drop Bengaluru rural district from the list of COVID-19 red zones as there are no fresh cases of coronavirus infections there, revenue minister R Ashoka said on Saturday.