AAP Government’s Delhi Excise Policy Led to Rs 2,000 Crore Loss, Says CAG Report; BJP Vows to Table 13 More Audits

New Delhi, February 26, 2025 – A damning report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has revealed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy of 2021-22 resulted in a staggering revenue loss of over Rs 2,000 crore to the state exchequer. The report, tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta of the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, has spotlighted significant lapses in policy design and implementation, reigniting the political firestorm over the controversial liquor policy.

 

Titled the ‘Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi,’ the CAG report estimates the cumulative loss at Rs 2,002.68 crore, attributing it to a combination of weak policy frameworks, procedural violations, and poor execution. Among the key findings, the audit highlighted a revenue shortfall of Rs 941.53 crore due to delays in securing approvals for liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards, and an additional Rs 890.15 crore lost because the Excise Department failed to re-tender licences surrendered by zonal licensees before the policy’s expiration in August 2022. Further losses of Rs 144 crore stemmed from irregular waivers granted to licensees during Covid-related closures, despite opposition from the department, and Rs 27 crore from incorrect security deposit collections.

The report also accused the AAP government, led by then-Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, of ignoring expert committee recommendations and bypassing necessary approvals from the Cabinet and Lieutenant Governor. It pointed to licensing irregularities, including the allocation of multiple licences to related parties, which fostered monopolies and cartelisation in the liquor trade. The policy, introduced in November 2021 to privatize liquor retail and boost revenue, instead became embroiled in allegations of corruption, leading to its withdrawal in July 2022 after Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena recommended a CBI probe.

 

The tabling of the report marks a significant move by the BJP, which stormed to power in Delhi earlier this month, ending AAP’s decade-long reign. Chief Minister Gupta, fulfilling a key election promise, presented the audit amid uproarious scenes in the Assembly, where 15 AAP MLAs were suspended for protesting its presentation. The BJP has vowed to table 13 additional CAG reports scrutinizing the AAP government’s performance, a pledge that has heightened anticipation of further revelations about the previous administration’s governance.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva hailed the move, stating, “The CAG report exposes the AAP’s black deeds. We promised Delhi’s people that corruption would be held accountable, and today is just the beginning.” The party has long accused AAP of suppressing these audits, a charge that led BJP MLAs to petition the Delhi High Court last year for their release.

AAP leaders, however, have mounted a fierce counterattack. Leader of Opposition Atishi demanded an investigation into the roles of the Lieutenant Governor, CBI, and Enforcement Directorate, alleging they obstructed the policy’s potential to generate Rs 8,000 crore in revenue. “The CAG report shows the old excise policy was corrupt. The new one was transparent and could have doubled revenue, but vested interests derailed it,” she claimed at a press conference, calling the reported losses a result of external interference rather than AAP’s mismanagement.

The excise policy scandal, dubbed “Liquorgate” by critics, had already ensnared senior AAP figures, including Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who faced arrests in related CBI and ED probes. The BJP has seized on the CAG findings to bolster its narrative of AAP’s financial mismanagement, with national president J.P. Nadda terming it a “model of loot” on X.

As the new BJP dispensation prepares to unveil the remaining 13 CAG reports, Delhi’s political landscape braces for more turbulence. The excise policy’s fallout, coupled with these impending audits, promises to keep the AAP-BJP rivalry at a boiling point, with implications for public trust and governance in the capital.

Further updates expected as the Assembly session progresses.