<p class="title">With liquor shops closed amid the nationwide lockdown, sale of illicit liquor is on the rise in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Excise department officials have conducted raids cracking whip on the unauthorised trade. In a span of one month, between March 23 and April 23, officials have registered as many as 1,388 cases, with 591 persons arrested in this connection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to official data available with the excise department, during various raids, a quantity of 44,081 litres of IML, 30,776 litres of beer, 980 litres of wine, 2,665 litres of toddy, 4,575 litres of ID (illicitly distilled) liquor have been seized.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This apart, a huge quantity (27,152 litres) of wash (unfermented ID) was also seized during the raids from different parts of the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While the largest quantity of IML (18,283 litres) was seized in the Hosapete division, that for beer (12,236 litres) and illicit distilled liquor (2,725 litres) was seized in Belagavi division.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A senior official in the department said the illicit trade was being driven by those in the know of the business, some of who have previously had similar charges against them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even as the department is cracking down on illicit liquor sales, it is also grappling with lack of revenue the past month, owing to the lockdown.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the budget, the state government has set an excise revenue target of Rs 22,700 crore for the financial year 2020-21, which accounts for 18% of the state’s own-tax revenues. Towards the end of the 2019-20 fiscal, the government collected Rs 19,701 crore against a target of Rs 20,950 crore. The government even announced an increase in the Additional Excise Duty on IML by 6%, in a measure to boost revenue.</p>
<p class="title">With liquor shops closed amid the nationwide lockdown, sale of illicit liquor is on the rise in the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Excise department officials have conducted raids cracking whip on the unauthorised trade. In a span of one month, between March 23 and April 23, officials have registered as many as 1,388 cases, with 591 persons arrested in this connection.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to official data available with the excise department, during various raids, a quantity of 44,081 litres of IML, 30,776 litres of beer, 980 litres of wine, 2,665 litres of toddy, 4,575 litres of ID (illicitly distilled) liquor have been seized.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This apart, a huge quantity (27,152 litres) of wash (unfermented ID) was also seized during the raids from different parts of the state.</p>.<p class="bodytext">While the largest quantity of IML (18,283 litres) was seized in the Hosapete division, that for beer (12,236 litres) and illicit distilled liquor (2,725 litres) was seized in Belagavi division.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A senior official in the department said the illicit trade was being driven by those in the know of the business, some of who have previously had similar charges against them.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even as the department is cracking down on illicit liquor sales, it is also grappling with lack of revenue the past month, owing to the lockdown.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the budget, the state government has set an excise revenue target of Rs 22,700 crore for the financial year 2020-21, which accounts for 18% of the state’s own-tax revenues. Towards the end of the 2019-20 fiscal, the government collected Rs 19,701 crore against a target of Rs 20,950 crore. The government even announced an increase in the Additional Excise Duty on IML by 6%, in a measure to boost revenue.</p>
