--Steady growth in Excise, VAT since FY ’20-’21
PNS
: Encouraged with a high growth in collection of Excise revenue in the past two years, the State Government is eyeing for Rs 10,000 crore Excise and VAT collection from liquor during the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24.
Principal Secretary Excise Sushil K Lohani reviewed the Excise and VAT collection in the Excise sector. It came to the fore that the State had collected Rs 4,053.51 crore Excise and VAT of Rs1,346.71 crore from liquor during the FY 2020-21, which has been increased to Rs 5,528.40 crore Excise and Rs 2,100 crore VAT totalling to Rs 7,628.40 crore in 2021-22, thereby registering a growth of 41.26 per cent.
Similarly, the State has collected Rs 6,182.36 crore Excise and Rs 2585 crore VAT from liquor making a record amount of Rs 8,767.36 crore during the FY 2022-23 marking a growth of 14.93 percent against the collection of FY 2021-22.
While Rs 4,053.51 crore Excise revenue was collected during the FY 2020-21, it has increased to Rs 5,528.40 crore in 2021-22, thereby registering a growth of 36.39 percent. The excise revenue collection again increased by 11.83 percent to Rs 6,182 crore in 2022-23.
Moreover, the State collected Rs 1,346.71 crore VAT on excise items during 2020-21, which witnessed a growth of 55.93 per cent in 2021-22 and 23.08 percent growth in 2022-23. The State had collected Rs 2,100 crore and Rs 2,585 crore VAT from liquor during 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.
To achieve the ambitious Excise revenue target set for 2023-24, the State Government has come up with a comprehensive Excise Policy for the current fiscal.
As per the policy, licence for any new IMFL Off shop in the State will not be issued. But the Off shops can carry out modernisation of their outlets during the year.
As the Department of Excise has increased the application fee for new/renewal of ‘Off shops’ from Rs 1.1 lakh to Rs 1.2 lakh, the cost of IMFL will go up for the consumers. Besides, the minimum guaranteed quantity (MGQ) and retailer fee have also been increased in the new Excise Policy.
Similarly, the annual composite label registration fee for FL Off shops, FL On shops for sale of all brands has been fixed at Rs 50,000.
The Government has decided to not to accept any new application for ‘ON’ shop licence for rural areas in 2023-24.
Similarly, there will be no increase in the number of FL-Off, premium FL-Off and CL shops for the year 2023-24. The licence of existing FL-Off and CL (ENA based) EP holders would be renewed for a period of one-year i.e., up to the end of March, 2024.
However, in urban areas, a new ‘On’ shop licence can be granted for only star hotels and other hotels having such a minimum number of rooms to be decided by the Department of Excise.