Rs 7,500 crore Excise Policy target an uphill task

Sushil Manav

Advertisement

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 21

With over 700 villages not to have liquor vends, quota of IMFL slashed and no major hike in duty, achieving the target of revenue of Rs 7,500 crore seems to be an uphill task for Haryana next fiscal.

Sources familiar with functioning of the Excise Department apprehend that closure of liquor vends in almost one-third of the villages (vends in over 700 villages out of nearly 2,300 to be shut) is likely to encourage bootlegging.

In the Excise Policy approved on Thursday, the government has set a target of earning Rs 7,500 crore in 2020-21 against collection of Rs 6,600 crore this year.

The Cabinet has also decided to avoid giving licence to open liquor vends in 700 villages. The village heads of 872 villages have filed applications for the same.

“It will be a Herculean task to achieve this target. Over 700 villages out of 2,300 will not have liquor vends. The quota of IMFL has been reduced from 650 lakh proof litres to 550 lakh proof litres whereas no change has been made in quota of country liquor, which has been retained at 1,050 lakh proof litres. Duty on beer and wine has been reduced while that on country liquor has been increased. The excise authorities may find it hard to meet the targets,” said the sources.

The sources explained that when the quantity of liquor will be down due to reduction in quota of IMFL, revenue from excise will come down. With decrease in number of liquor vends, revenue from licence fee will come down.

Apprehensions are being expressed that the closure of vends in almost one-third of the villages will lead to increase in bootlegging, leading to further dip in revenue.

Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala, who holds portfolio of Excise and Taxation, rubbished these apprehensions and claimed that the Excise Policy had been made after giving thought to all angles.

The Deputy CM said the government had made provisions for CCTV cameras in manufacturing units and distilleries and made it mandatory for vehicles for transportation to have GPS link.

“We have formed a control room to monitor manufacturing, packing and transportation of liquor stocks. Irregularities by manufacturing units will be liable to cancellation of licences,” he said.

“There will also be a provision of barcode to be installed on every bottle and it will be sold only after scanning. Vend owners should give proper receipt to buyers and vendors refusing receipt will be liable to face penalty of Rs 5,000,” Dushyant added.

He said heavy penalties had been proposed for unauthorised movement, which was Rs 1 lakh for first instance, Rs 2.5 lakh for second, Rs 5 lakh for third and cancellation of licence for the fourth time.