Mohan Meakin Brewery fails to pay property tax since ‘94

Mohan Meakin, India’s oldest brewery, has not pay property tax to the Solan Municipal Corporation (MC) for years on the plea that their area did not fall under their purview.

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This has acted as a deterrent for the civic body to recover the Conservancy Tax of Rs 57,52,075 which was levied on the brewery management since 1994 when the civic body was a municipal council. Calculated until 2021-2022, it also includes a 10 per cent penalty of Rs 5,22,918. Interestingly, Kapil Mohan, former chairman and MD of the brewery, remained the civic body’s chairman for years.

The tax has been outstanding against the brewery ever since it was reportedly merged with the Solan Nagar Panchayat during the delimitation exercise. It later upgraded to a municipal council in 1950 and then a municipal corporation in 2020. This brewery was established owing to the excellent quality of mineral water available here. It manufactures several premium brands of liquor.

The brewery management has in its various communications, including a letter dated April 21, 2008, clearly stated that since there was no revenue record in support of MC’s plea they would not pay the tax.

Officials of the Solan MC have been consistently pursuing the matter with the Directorate of Urban Development to secure the record of the nearby areas which were merged with the Solan Nagar Panchayat from 1952 to 1977 to clarify the position but to no avail.

This has created a piquant situation for the MC as the pending tax liability on the brewery is increasing with each passing year.

Mohan Meakin Brewery is located in ward number four of Solan and the civic amenities are being provided by the MC. Brewery staff living around the campus not only participates in voting for the civic body poll but residents of the same ward also pay taxes to the civic body.

Usha Sharma, Mayor, Solan MC, while acknowledging the news said, “The Mohan Meakin management has sought permission to axe 92 trees for construction of fire line at their campus. We will ask them to first clear their outstanding dues before granting such a permission as their outstanding liability was amassing day by day and it stood at Rs 57.52 lakh which was a massive amount.”

She added that if they come forward to deposit their dues, their penalty can be waived off. The matter also echoed at a recent general house of the civic body. Being a sizable amount it can be utilised for various developmental activities.

The brewery management now appears to be caught in a bind as their campus was prone to forest fires and constructing a fire line was an issue of urgent concern for them. It remains to be seen if they would clear their liability or would find some other way to excuse.

Edward Dyer had set up a brewery at Kasauli in 1855 and a distillery at Solan. It marked the advent of industrialisation in the region and was the first brewery to be set up in Asia. The company’s name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries Ltd on November 1, 1966, and from April 24, 1980, it was known as Mohan Meakin Limited.