Prateek Tanmay
3 min readHyderabadJun 14, 2026 07:17 PM IST
Global liquor companies have collectively accused the Telangana government of not paying them dues of over Rs 3,700 crore over months, and then introducing a policy for discounts on new payments it is supposed to make.
The companies are represented by bodies including the Brewers Association of India (BAI), the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), which represent about 80% of the total liquor, beer and wines sold in the country.
The Telangana government, meanwhile, is “ready to clear the pending payment” and “we are working on a solution”, Principal Secretary, Excise, Raghunandan Rao, told The Indian Express.
What is the controversy surrounding liquor sales in Telangana?
Telangana is India’s biggest beer-consuming state by volume. Here, liquor companies supply only to state-run depots, under the Telangana State Beverages Corporation, which then sells to retailers. This makes the companies rely on the state government for payments.
According to the brewers, the payments from December 2025 to April 2026, amounting to Rs 3,700 crore, are pending. Moreover, the state government has introduced a new method of payment starting June 1.
Under this method, the state government will pay the companies within 15 days of delivery of liquor, but will deduct an early payment cash discount of 2 to 2.75%. This new system has already kicked in even before the clearing of pending dues, the brewers representing alcohol giants Diageo, Pernod Ricard, Heineken and Carlsberg said in a joint statement.
“Old outstanding (payments) may remain unpaid turning into bad debt over time thus creating massive financial burden and risk for the industry,” the groups said, adding not paying old dues first was “fraught with non-compliance” with accounting standards.
What does the Telangana government say?
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The Telangana government said that the new payment policy allows early payments to be made at a slightly lower rate. “This is an early payment discount. We are ready to pay on the day of delivery too on a first come first serve basis. That is, those who supply on the earliest date will be paid first compared with those who deliver at a later date,” Rao said.
The companies, in their statement said that the government is acting unilaterally. But Rao claimed, “This is not a unilateral decision. It is based on a pre-signed contract that exists between each of the companies involved and the Telangana state government.”
About the pending dues, the state government is “ready for any discussion” so there is no problem regarding liquor sales in the state. “There is no impasse at the moment. We are ready to clear the dues,” Raghunandan Rao said.
