The excise revenue in Odisha has increased three fold in the last 10 years as per data shared by Excise Minister Ashwini Kumar Patra in the State Assembly on Tuesday.
Replying to a query asked by BJP MLA Kusum Tete, the Minister stated that the excise revenue was Rs 1,094.38 crore during 2010-11 while the State collected Rs 6,455.06-crore excise revenue in fiscal 2022-23, around 3 times higher in the past decade.
As per the data, the State’s excise revenue was Rs 1,780.29 crore in fiscal 2013-14, Rs 2,038.79 crore in 2014-15, Rs 2,568.68 crore in 2015-16, Rs 2,786.25 crore in 2016-17, Rs 3,221.03 crore in 2017-18, Rs 3,925.41 crore in 2018-19, Rs 4,495.52 crore in 2019-20, Rs 4,053.51 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 5,528.41 crore in 2021-22
As of 31.12.2023, the State recorded Rs 4,897.74-crore excise revenue in the 2023-24 fiscal.
On the other hand, the empire of illegal drug trade has expanded during the period in Odisha.
As per data shared by the Minister, the Excise Department has seized narcotic drugs worth Rs 63,45,13,155 in NDPS cases during 2022-23.
The seized drugs include 42,254 kg of ganja, 1,959 kg of opium, 31,796 gram of brown sugar, 7,335-litre cough syrups.
Answering to a query asked by MLA Nauri Nayak, the Minister dismissed the claim that the narcotic drugs trade is the factor behind rise in criminal violence in the State.