Excise duty on potable liquor hiked in Uttar Pradesh

Tipplers will find it difficult to say 'cheers' from April 1 as the Uttar Pradesh government has hiked the excise duty and other charges levied on the liquor vendors of all categories of potable alcohol including India Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), country liquor (CL) and beer. The hike under the new excise policy will come into force from 2007-08.

The new policy aim to realise additional revenue of Rs 400 crore during the next financial year 2007-08. For the current fiscal the target for excise revenue was Rs 3,450 crore which has been revised to Rs 3,850 crore during 2007-08.

With the hike in revenue target the consumption of the CL is also expected to be increased by 5 per cent. The Minimum Consumption Quota for the CL vendors has been increased by 5 per cent. For the current fiscal the MCQ was 1,961 crore bulk litre has now been increased to 20.59 crore bulk litre.

The liquor vends would be allotted as per the old policy of renewal and lottery. The excise duty on cheap, medium and regular categories of IMFL has been increased by Rs 12, Rs 24 and Rs 80 per litre, respectively.

The license fee for the IMFL shops has been increased by 20 per cent, while the same fee for the beer shops has been increased by 15 per cent. The fee for application for IMFL and beer shop has been increased from present Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500.

The excise duty on mild and strong categories of beer has been increased by Rs 2 per bottle. The renewal fee for IMFL and beer shops has been increased by Rs 3000, in municipal corporation towns and small towns by Rs 2,000 in town areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas.