Gurugram, Feb 21 (IANS): Price of liquor in Haryana will shoot sharply from April after the new excise law was passed by the state cabinet. Beer lovers though can cheer as prices slashed by Rs 10 per bottle.
Not will more outlets open up in malls here and in Faridabad, but even marriage parties will be able to serve liquor by procuring suitable license for a price for minimum period.
Dushyant Chautala, the deputy chief minister who holds the excise portfolio said any liquor brand bottle will have minimum price on Rs 900. This decision will help cover the loss that the state excise department has made.
Earlier the same bottle of Blenders Pride, Royal Stag, Royal Choice, Officer Choice used to be below Rs 700.
"In current financial year, Haryana excise department has set a target to generate Rs 7,500 crore through tax. The department would end up by Rs 1,000 crore shorter till March 31," Chautala told the media on Thursday in Chandigarh.
While elaborating the plan to generate maximum revenue, the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar decided to allow outlets to be open in malls of Gurugram, Faridabad and Panchkula and their time was extended by one hour from midnight to 1 a.m. on all days.
"We also provide option to vend owners to extend their timing of operation by paying Rs 10 lakh for every one hour in the night," Chautala said.
"The liquor companies having units in Haryana...have also given relief by slashing the tax on export. The idea is to improve export of liquor in foreign countries. The export from Haryana to other states in the country is also sliced from 4 per cent to 2 per cent," Chautala said.
The new excise law also allow individual person to procure liquor stocks inside their own houses by paying minimum charge of Rs 1,000 and obtain L-50 license. There will also be a provision to serve liquor in marriage halls, banquet halls marriage lawns by paying Rs 7,500 to obtain license for a day (24 hours). Such facility will be available on only those places register with district excise department and also pay Rs 40,000 to obtain valid license.
Over the years, smuggling of liquor has been a big concern for state government. Since, the prices of liquor in Haryana are comparatively cheaper to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. A large number of Haryana made liquor has been seized over the years.
"To minimise loophole, we will have provision to install CCTV cameras in manufacturing units and distilleries and vehicles used in transportation should Abe connected with GPS system. We have formed a control room in Chandigarh to monitor, manufacturing, packing and transportation of liquor stocks. The irregularities by manufacturing units would be liable cancelation of licenses," he said.
"There will also be a provision of barcode to be installed on every bottle and it should be sale only after scanning. The vend owners should give proper receipt to buyers and refusal of receipt by venders are liable to face penalty of Rs 5,000," Chautala said.
One of the big outcome of the meeting was ban on country-made liquor in Haryana. The cabinet has also decided to avoid giving license to open liquor vends in 700 villages. The village heads of 872 villages have filed applications with excise department for the same.