Hotels on Mumbai's express highway now allowed to serve liquor

After receiving notices from the excise department, all hotels in Mumbai have been allowed to serve liquor from Friday.

After the March 31 Supreme Court ban on the sale of liquor within 500 metres of the national and state highway, hotels in Mumbai in close proximity to the highway had stopped serving liquor.

Hotels like Sahara Star and Orchid were among those affected by the ban.

Friday's notices were sent following the Maharashtra government's decision to denotify western and eastern express highways in Mumbai.

Liquor ban on highways had affected around 1000 star category hotels in Maharashtra including the VIP lounge at the domestic airport.

According to previous estimates from industry body FHRAI, Maharashtra was expected to lose an estimated annual revenue of Rs 7000 crore.