Shell out extra for your favourite bottle of liquor...

People have to shell out more for beer and other liquors from April 1. The budget has proposed to increase the excise duty on beer and liquor across 17 slabs of IML (Indian Made Liquor). The excise duty on beer has been doubled from Rs 5 to Rs 10, while the same on IMLs has been increased by Rs 5 (Rs 50 from Rs 45). With this, price of a beer bottle may go up by Rs 7 to Rs 9.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said a revenue target of Rs 15,200 crore has been fixed for the Excise department. The budget has also proposed to increase the additional excise duty on beer and IML. ‘

“I propose to increase the rate of excise duty on IML from the existing Rs 45 to Rs 50 and that on beer from the existing Rs 5 to Rs 10. I propose to increase the existing rate of additional duty by 4% to 12% across all the 17 slabs on IML. I also propose to increase the additional excise duty on beer from 135% to 150%,” Siddaramaiah said. A senior official from the Excise Department said that the price of first three slabs of IML may go up by Rs 4 to Rs 6 per bottle (180 ML).

“The increase in both excise duty and additional excise duty will result in increase of the price per 180 ML of IML. The price of brands within first three-four slabs might increase by Rs 4 to Rs 6. The first four slabs of IML constitutes more than 55% of the entire sale in the State. Hence, the increase for the brands within first four slabs will not be more than Rs 6 per. The price of other brands in the list of 17 slabs will go up depending on the brand,” the official said.

The chief minister has proposed to levy an administrative fee of Rs 2 per litre on export and Rs 1 per litre on import of spirit, excluding ethanol. In an effort to reduce the gap between the licence fees of different categories of liquor vending licences, Siddaramaiah has proposed an increase of fee by 25%. A senior Excise department official said that this increase of licence fee will not have an impact on the prices of liquor. The licence fee has not been increased since 2007, the official said.

Wine products

The government has proposed to amend the Excise rules to encourage wine production in the interest of grape growers. The State has proposed to introduce changes in fortified wine to the effect that fortification will only be done by adding grape spirit or pure fruit brandy, instead of neutral spirit or rectified spirit. 

‘Responsible drinking’ campaign

Having a target for highest revenue, the State has also proposed to publicise ‘responsible drinking’. The concept is in partnership with the liquor manufacturers’ association as part of the corporate social responsibility of the association.

“The objectives include providing complete information about dangers of drunk driving, ill-effects of consuming illicit liquor, under-age drinking, binge drinking and different varieties of liquor. For the year, the State has proposed to earmark a grant of Rs 10 crore on equal partnership basis for the ‘responsible drinking’ scheme.