Excise policy: Chandigarh invites suggestions

Chandigarh, November 20

The UT Excise and Taxation Department has started the process of preparing the Excise Policy 2024-25, which will be implemented from April 1. The Excise and Taxation Department has invited suggestions from stakeholders, to be submitted by November 30.

For the first time, the department has suffered a loss of nearly Rs 150 crore this financial year as there were no takers for the 18 liquor vends, out of a total of 95 units, even after holding 20 e-auctions in the past nine months. Later, the department distributed the remaining liquor quota among the existing liquor vends.

For 2023-24, the department had expected a revenue of Rs 830 crore. However, nearly Rs 600 crore has been collected so far. The fee ranges from Rs 3 crore to Rs 15 crore depending upon the location.

Liquor contractors stated the revenue loss to the UT was due to an imbalanced tax structure in comparison to neighbouring state of Punjab.