UP excise revenue up 38% to Rs 24,000 cr on clampdown on liquor cartels

Under a new excise policy, the state had dissolved the special Meerut excise zone allegedly carved out to benefit certain groups; bidding for liquor shops online was made mandatory

The Uttar Pradesh government has reported an excise revenue collection of Rs 23,918 crore during the 2018-19 financial year, up more than 38 per cent from Rs 17,320 crore during 2017-18.

After the Yogi Adityanath government came to power in March 2017, the UP excise revenue has been on a high growth trajectory posting growths of 21 per cent and 38 per cent during the two years it has been in office.

During the past two financial years of the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime (2012-17), the excise collection had dipped below 5 per cent and hit a low of 1.4 per cent in 2016-17. (See Table)

The upswing in UP excise revenue under the new dispensation has been attributed to a new policy aimed at curbing liquor smuggling and weeding out well entrenched liquor cartels.

Addressing the media in Lucknow on the occasion of completing two years in office on March 19, Adityanath had indicated that his government had adhered to fiscal prudence, which resulted in robust Goods and Services Tax (GST) and excise collections, while keeping the fiscal deficit under the mandated three per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

	Fiscal	Revenue	Growth	%age growth
1.	2012-13	Rs 9,782 cr	Rs 1,643	20.0%
2.	2013-14	Rs 11,643 cr	Rs 1,861	19.0%
3.	2014-15	Rs 13,482 cr	Rs 1,839	15.0%
4.	2015-16	Rs 14,083 cr	Rs 601	4.5%
5.	2016-17	Rs 14,273 cr	Rs 190	1.4%
6.	2017-18	Rs 17,320 cr	Rs 3,047	21.0%
7.	2018-19	Rs 23,918 cr	Rs 6,598	38.0%

Source: UP Excise Department

In January 2018, the Adityanath government had announced a new excise policy to take on liquor cartels and big traders enjoying hegemony in the organised liquor retail. UP health minister and government spokesperson Siddharth Nath Singh had then said the new excise policy would hit at “crony capitalism” and monopoly in liquor trade. He has also spoken of introducing transparency.

Under the new policy, the state had dissolved the special Meerut excise zone created under Mayawati's rule (2007-12), which consisted of Meerut, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Bareilly divisions. It was allegedly carved out to benefit late liquor baron Ponty Chadha’s Wave Group, which enjoyed a virtual monopoly on UP’s retail liquor trade under the erstwhile regime. Wave Group entities were awarded both wholesale and retail contracts in Meerut zone.

Besides, the bidding for liquor shops was mandated to be done online. Currently, there are about 18,000 liquor shops in UP. To check illegal liquor trade, which has robbed the exchequer of revenue, the new policy introduced a ‘trace and track’ system for keeping a real-time tab of goods being transported. The government has also intensified vigil along the interstate borders to curb liquor smuggling.