KOCHI: The proposal to hike the price of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by imposing a social security cess hasn’t gone down well with many as any hike in liquor price will directly affect the budget of a family in Kerala. Krishnadas Polakulath, MD of Polakulath Group of Hospitality, said the hike would also lead to an increase in drug sales.
“People will not stop spending money on liquor. The more you hike the price of liquor, it affects the daily income of a family. Already the tax on IMFL is 251 per cent,” he added.
“Drug cartels are pushing large quantities of cheap synthetic drugs into the market. As drugs offer more high(intoxication) at lesser price people are shifting to drugs. It’s an alarming situation,” he said.
The budget has proposed to levy a Social Security Cess at the rate of Rs 20 for each bottle of IMFL having MRP between Rs 500 to Rs 999 and at the rate of Rs 40 per bottle of IMFL having MRP above Rs 1,000.
Govt to encourage domestic production of extra-neutral alcohol
T’Puram: The state government will take measures to encourage the domestic production of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA), Finance Minister K N Balagopal said in his budget speech. The minister said an average of 5 crore litres of ENA is being imported by the state every year. Its domestic production will create new employment opportunities, he said.