bengal-govt-hikes-excise-duty-on-liquor

With the West Bengal government hikes excise duty, beer, Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), and country liquor will be more expensive in the state from August 14.

 

While the price per bottle of beer will go up by ₹20-25, IMFL will be ₹30 more expensive, and country liquor will cost Rs ₹5 more.

 

The move from the state government comes as it looks to boost its finances to fund various social security schemes. To this end, the government had increased stamp duty.

 

In Financial Year 2022-2023, the government made ₹16,266 crore in excise duty, and in FY 2023-2024, the figure was over ₹18,000 crore. The government is now looking to increase revenue from excise duty to over ₹20,000 crore to meet the requirements of various schemes.

 

According to sources in the administration, from FY 2024-25, the state government has to allocate ₹26,000 crore to the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme for financial assistance to women from economically weaker sections, ₹6,500 crore to Krishak Bandhu scheme for financial assistance to farmers, around ₹ 10,500 crore to the Jai Bangla pension scheme, and almost ₹1,500 crore to the Kanyashree scheme for girls’ education.

 

A senior government official said, “Government now has an expenditure of more than ₹50,000 crore every year in different social welfare schemes.

 

Other than that, the government has extra expenditures like payment to puja committees, club-aid, etc. To meet such huge financial liabilities the government took ₹73,000 crore loans in FY 2023-24. This year, this loan estimate is ₹80,000 crore. In this situation, the government has to increase revenue and excise and stamp duties are the only options.”

 

An official of the state Excise Department said, “We made minor tweaks in the price of country made liquor, otherwise the increase in the price of beer will cause an increase in consumption of country liquor. That is not desirable.”

 

The official said attempts to increase revenue through measures such as keeping liquor shops partially open on dry days did not have the desired effect. “So, we were forced to increase the price of liquor to meet our financial expectation,” said the official.