Ruchika M Khanna
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 5
The first excise policy of the AAP government is going to make beer and Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in Punjab cheaper, by increasing its quota. This will help the state increase the excise revenue by over 40 per cent.
The main focus of the new policy will be on stopping smuggling of liquor into the state. By increasing supply and reducing its rates, making these on a par with liquor rates in Chandigarh and Haryana, the government is confident that the liquor smuggling will stop. Excise mobile wings are also proposed to be strengthened to check pilferage from the distilleries.
Allotment via tenders
- The policy will be brought up in the next Cabinet meeting
- Tenders will be called to allot vends, instead of draw of lots
- The government is also keen on increasing the size of the licensing units
The policy will be brought up in the next Cabinet meeting, scheduled for Tuesday. Tenders are being called to allot vends, instead of allotting them through a draw of lots (as is the present practice). The government is also keen on increasing the size of the licensing units (groups in local parlance) by five times — from the group sizes of Rs 5-7 crore now to Rs 35-40 crore under the new policy. The maximum retail price of the liquor will be fixed, and no one will be allowed to sell at rates higher than it.
However, liquor contractors have lodged a protest against the changes. Pinder Brar, a liquor contractor from Muktsar, said by increasing the size of groups, the small liquor contractors would be wiped off from the trade as only big contractors would have the capital to invest in the groups.
Though the quota for the country-made liquor or Punjab medium liquor (PML) is proposed to remain the same as last year, the government is looking at substantially increasing the quota of beer and IMFL. Last year, the quota of these categories of liquor was increased marginally, though the quota for PML had been increased by 12 per cent.
KD Khosla, a liquor contractor from Hoshiarpur, said with the increase in the quota, the prices of liquor would fall. “We picked up the quota for April, which has not been sold. We want the government to allow us to carry forward these stocks for sale under the new policy. Moreover, we bought the liquor by paying high excise duties. If the rates are slashed, we will have to sell these at lower rates and incur losses,” he rued.
New excise policy aims at 40% revenue jump
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