CHANDIGARH: Haryana Government not to open liquor vends in 198 villages in the state in the 2018-19 excise policy and getting resolutions from village gram panchyats in this regard which was unveiled today.
Also now it will be mandatory for all the vends to issue an invoice for sale of liquor and the grant of bar licenses to Golf Clubs and other categories has been relaxed so as to allow them to open anywhere in the state. Besides an enforcement wing has been created to check smuggling of liquor.
Haryana Additional Chief Secretary, Excise and Taxation, Sanjeev Kaushal today unveiled the State’s Excise Policy for the year 2018-19 and said that 198 genuine resolutions from gram panchayats were received during the year 2017-18 against the opening of liquor vends in their villages as against the 185 such resolutions received during the year 2016-2017.
Kaushal said that though the concerned gram panchayats are to submit their resolution upto September 31 every year, the Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar has directed the department to consider all such resolution received in this regard by December 31. He said that 500 resolutions were received from the gram panchayats during the year 2017-18, out of which 198 were found to be genuine. On the basis of these, it was decided not to open liquor vends in these villages.
While announcing an increase in the basic quota of Country Liquor (CL) from 950 lakh proof litres to 1000 lakh proof litres and of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from 550 lakh proof litres to 600 lakh proof litres, Kaushal said that however, the number of retail outlets for CL and IMFL would remain the same as 2017-18. He said that the Export
Duty on CL has been reduced from Rs. 1.5 to Rs. 0.50.
He said that under the new policy, the licencee has been allowed to convert maximum 10 per cent of his CL quota to IMFL quota. He said that the Excise duty, this year, on CL has been increased from Rs 28 to Rs 44 per PL whereas, on IMFL, it has been increased from Rs 44-200 per PL to Rs 49-210 per PL. However, there is no hike in the annual fee of bar licenses in the form of L-4 and L-5 granted to restaurants and hotels of three-star ratings and above, he added.
He said that for the purpose of allotment, the zone would comprise of maximum number of six retail outlets with freedom to open either six composite vends consisting of IMFL/CL or IMFL vend exclusively or CL vend exclusively.
He said that the condition with regard to grant of Bar Licenses to Golf Clubs and other categories has been relaxed so as to allow them to open anywhere in the State. On the request of Japanese Company, Pub licences would be allowed in Industrial Model Township (IMT) Manesar.
He said that the Minimum Retail Price (MRP) of country liquor is proposed at Rs. 140 per bottle and it has been made
mandatory for all the retail licensees to issue an invoice for sale of liquor. He said that Rs One per bottle of CL,
IMFL or Beer sold in the State would be utilised for the promotion of sports activities whereas, Rs. 3, Rs. 5 and Rs.
7 respectively for every bottle of Beer, CL and IMFL sold would be transferred to Panchayati Raj Institutions for development activities in the rural areas.
With a view to tighten noose around those involved in the practice of illegal sale and smuggling of liquor in the State, the Haryana Government has decided to set up an Enforcement Wing headed by Excise and Taxation Commissioner (ETC).
Kaushal described the year 2017-18 as successful in terms of excise revenue and said that the State is expected to earn a revenue of Rs 5,682 crore including VAT upto February this year. He said that the excise revenue of the State for the year 2016-17 was 11.71 per cent which has been increased to 13 per cent in the year 2017-18.
In reply to a question, Kaushal said that the number of liquor vends in the State in 2016-17 was 3,491 but as a result of composite vends and effective planning, this number has brought down to 2,323 thus showing a 33 per cent reduction in the number of vends in 2017-18.