Post June 12, marginal hike in prices of IMFL, country liquor in Haryana

Pradeep Sharma

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Chandigarh, May 15

Tipplers can expect a marginal increase in the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor post June 12 in Haryana.

With the Cabinet under the chairmanship of CM Nayab Singh Saini approving the excise policy for 2024-25 proposing a slight increase in the excise duty ranging from 1-1.5% on major popular brands of IMFL and country liquor, the prices may go up from Rs 5 to Rs 25 per bottle.

Likely to go up from Rs 5 to Rs 25 a bottle

• Price hike likely in the range of Rs 5-25 for IMFL, country liquor
• Popular brands may not see any price hike due to competition among contractors
• Rs 1,000 crore excise jump expected in 2024-25
• Maximum number of vends will continue to be 2,400

Since the excise policy has been taken up with the approval of the Election Commission of India, no major changes have been effected compared to the existing policy, which will expire on June 11.

“However, on account of stiff competition among liquor contractors, the increase in the prices of popular brands due to duty hike could be offset resulting in no increase in the prices of those brands,” said Satnam Singh, a contractor from Gurugram.

Meanwhile, the government is expecting a jump of Rs 1,000 crore in excise revenue — from Rs 11,000 crore in 2023-24 to Rs 12,000 crore in 2024-25 fiscal — due to duty hike.

Under the policy, the maximum basic quota of IMFL has been pegged at 700 lakh proof litres while that of country liquor will be 1,200 lakh proof litres. The quota for IMFL remains the same, but there has been an increase of 500 lakh proof litres in case of country liquor, from 1,150 in the 2023-24 excise policy.

The QR code-based track-and-trace system, which was unveiled in the 2023-24 policy, will be extended to Imported Foreign Liquor (IFL). Now, the minimum retail price of IFL would be fixed by the government to streamline its trade.The maximum number of liquor shops across the state (L-2 and L-14A) will continue to remain at 2,400.

Nod to police rules

Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Nayab Singh here today accorded approval to the Haryana Police (Merger of Indian Reserve battalion’s Police Personnel in District (General Cadre) Rules, 2024. The police personnel of Indian Reserve battalions in the rank of head constables, C-1 constables and exemptee head constables/ constables shall be given an option to merge in the district police (general cadre) after completion of 15 years of service, including completion of their Phase-I and Phase-II training.

Remission of stamp duty

The cabinet also approved the remission of stamp duty amounting to Rs 79,97,500 and waiver of registration fee of Rs 50,000 in favour of the Majra Cooperative Multipurpose Society Limited, Majra (Bhalkhi) for transfer of land measuring 28 acre, 4 kanal, 10 marla by 10 land owners for the construction of AIIMS. The approval formalises a decision taken earlier when land for AIIMS at Rewari was provided by farmers.