Liquor helps Telangana government fill coffers
The excise department has netted a whopping Rs 6,924.55 crore
By : c.r. gowri shanker
Update: 2015-11-14 06:39 GMT
Hyderabad: Liquor revenue is filling up Telangana state coffers in a big way. The excise department has netted a whopping Rs 6,924.55 crore from April 2015 till date as against the target of Rs 12,207.78 crore for 2015-16. In 2014-15, the government had got Rs 6144.21 crore in the same period and a total of Rs 10,238.78 crore through excise revenue. Unlike in undivided AP, where the governments normally increased target by 10 per cent annually, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao doubled it to 20 per cent.
Though excise officials were apprehensive of a 20 per cent hike of the target, the recent response to retail IML (Indian Made Liquor) liquor shops, licence fee etc., gave enough hints that their doubts were misplaced and that they might achieve the financial target by March 31, 2016. “The total revenues collected till October were Rs 6,924.55 crore, a growth of 12.70 per cent. Last year, we got 6144.21 crore for the same period. There was tremendous response to sale of IML outlets due to streamlined system including licence fee, taxes etc. We will achieve the Rs 12,207.78 crore target,” prohibition and excise commissioner R.V. Chandravadan told Deccan Chronicle.
In October this year, the department earned Rs 1454.18 crore, compared to Rs 1028.04 crore in the same month last year. According to Dr Chandravadan, 126.29 lakh cases of Indian Made Liquor (IML) and 193.75 lakh cases of beer were sold during the period. This financial year, the department got Rs 881.48 crore from licence fee compared to Rs 834.78 crore last year, Rs 4544 crore through VAT (Rs 4,096.11 last year) etc.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.