Bengaluru, Jan.19: The Karnataka government has withdrawn its proposal to lower the minimum age for drinking in the state following “objections raised by public, associations and media”, the government said in a statement.
The development comes after the proposal had been submitted for lowering the legal age for consumption of alcohol from the current 21 years to 18 years.
The proposal was placed into the public domain to elicit opinion for a period of 30 days. After encountering growing opposition from people across the state, the Basavaraj Bommai government immediately withdrew the said proposal.
Lowering the age was recommended by a high-level committee set up under retired bureaucrat V Yashwanth to identify and eliminate “redundant aspects” in the excise law and rules.
The current Bommai Government has given a Rs 29,000 Crore target to the excise department for the Financial Year 2022-23. The department, despite a dip in sales during Christmas and New Year, is expected to hit the Rs 30,000 Crore mark by the end of March-23.
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