Chhattisgarh's New Excise Policy Ends Middlemen, Boosts Transparency

Raipur: The new excise policy, declared by the Vishnu Deo Sai government, has done away with the licensing system, leading to elimination of the role of middlemen in the liquor trade in Chhattisgarh.

The state cabinet, which met here on Thursday under the chairmanship of chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, gave nod to the new excise policy, a press release issued by the state government said on Friday.

“The new excise policy is a bold step taken by the chief minister to ensure a transparent and efficient liquor business in the state. It shows his commitment to rein in corruption and ensure transparency in liquor business”, an official spokesman here said.

Under the new excise policy, the government agency will directly procure liquor from the manufacturers for selling it to the consumers, thus putting an end to the role of middlemen in the trade, the spokesman said.

Absence of the role of the middlemen in the liquor trade will also help the consumers to have access to a wide variety of liquor brands, he added.

“As the government agency will buy and supply liquor directly from the manufacturers, consumers will not be restricted to buy liquor as per preferences of the license holders”, the press release said.

At the cabinet meeting, the chief minister Mr Sai said that there were large scale irregularities in the previous system causing immense financial losses to the state and emphasised a clean and transparent business environment.

“By taking control of the distribution process, we aim to streamline operations, reduce costs for manufacturers, and enhance consumer satisfaction”, he added.

The move comes after widespread complaints of corruption, spurious and illegal liquor sales and revenue losses amounting to crores of rupees under the previous government, the official press release said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had said that money was illegally collected from every bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh and corruption and money laundering of Rs 2,000 crore generated by an alcohol syndicate has been unearthed.

The ED which probed the liquor scam happened during the previous Congress government in the state filed a charge sheet in the case in the PMLA court here recently.

Retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, businessman Anwar Dhebar, who is the brother of Congress mayor of Raipur Municipal Corporation, and a senior officer in the excise department were described as alleged masterminds in the scam.