Jamshedpur, April 2: First there was scarcity of alcohol in East Singhbhum due to lack of takers for running the liquor shops, now it will be a story of aplenty.

The East Singhbhum district excise department is all set to reduce the prices of liquor by 10-15 per cent. The new prices come into effect from the current fiscal.

Excise department officials said the shops, which have been auctioned according to the new excise policy, are expected to open from April 5 while the rest of the stores would be auctioned in a few days.

Assistant commissioner of Jharkhand excise B. Mandal said they have received a directive from state government for implementing the new prices due to which the opening of shops has been delayed. Earlier, liquor syndicate, which bagged the tender for running the shops in the district, fixed the prices.

“According to the new excise policy, all the liquor bottles would display the maximum retail price. We have started the process to either put a stamp or a new price tag on the liquor stock with us before releasing them in the market,” added Mandal.

He said the department received the directive for implementing new prices on April 1 due to which the shops did not open on Wednesday.

“Since Friday and Saturday would be dry days for Ram Navami, the shops are expected to open from Sunday,” said another official of the excise department.