Liquor prices in Punjab are expected to fall by at least 30 to 40 per cent, which will be at par with the rates in the Union Territories of Chandigarh and Haryana, the state cabinet of the AAP-led government on Wednesday approved its first excise policy. gave permission. The government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had last year set a target of collecting Rs 9,647.85 crore, 40 per cent more than the revenue generated from the liquor business.
The new excise policy for the year 2022-23 was approved in the state cabinet meeting held here under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister. A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that the policy seeks to keep a strict check on smuggling of liquor from neighboring states by comprehensive enforcement and incorporating new technological measures.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa accused the AAP government of copying the Delhi Excise model to benefit some people. @Aam AadmiParty is abusing the Punjab government machinery and copying the Delhi excise model in Punjab to benefit a select few,” Sirsa said in a tweet.
The excise policy will be in force for a period of nine months from July 1 this year till March 31, 2023. In another decision, the cabinet also gave its approval to allot two special battalions of police to the Excise Department. Existing force to keep an effective watch on evasion of excise duty.
The spokesman said that this would help in keeping a better control on the supply of illicit liquor in the state from neighboring states. The spokesman said that the objective of the new excise policy is to break the nexus of the mafia involved in the liquor business.
Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers will be at a distance from each other. The spokesperson said that they would be completely isolated from each other and there would be no common stakeholder between them. Smuggling of liquor from Chandigarh and neighboring Haryana has been a major challenge for the state. Prices of liquor, including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer, are on an average 30 to 40 per cent higher in Punjab than the prices in Chandigarh and Haryana.
The spokesperson said that the prices of liquor will now be almost at par with the neighboring states. According to the new excise police, no quota has been fixed for lifting of IMFL and beer by retail licensees. An official of the Excise Department said that though the quota of Punjab Medium Liquor (PML) remained the same as it was last year.
The new excise policy sets out to tap the true potential of the liquor trade by allotting it to 177 clusters of e-tendering in a free, fair and transparent manner. Earlier the allotment of liquor shops was done on the basis of draw. The general size of the group would be around Rs 30 crore and there would be 6,378 contracts in the state, the spokesperson said.
Excise duty at the rate of one per cent of the wholesale price will be charged on all types of liquor except PML. On the same lines, the prescribed duty will also be charged at the rate of one per cent of the wholesale price.
In order to encourage capital investment and increase employment potential in the state, provision of new distillery licenses and brewery licenses has been made in the policy. In addition, a new license has been introduced for the production of malt spirits in the state. The spokesman said that this has been done to encourage crop diversification and provide better remuneration to the farmers.
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