Tripura govt happy with increasing income from liquor, but IMFL shop owners not

Agartala: Revenue generation from the sale of liquor in Tripura has been increasing at a steady rate of 12 per cent over the past few years, making the government happy, but those associated with the business are not that cheerful.

The traders dealing in Indian-made foreign liquors (IMFL) claim that the hike in revenue is actually due to a sharp increase in licence fees, and does not reflect the rise in sales in the state with a population of some 42 lakh.

The excise duty collection has increased from Rs 186.96 crore during the 2017-18 fiscal to Rs 484.09 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal, said Keshab Sinha, the Deputy Commissioner of the State Excise Organisation.

"There has been a phenomenal growth in revenue collection for the past eight years in the state, barring the Covid-induced 2019-20 when only Rs 231.70 crore was collected as excise duty," Sinha told PTI.

The officer asserted that consumption of alcohol has been increasing, as has been shown by the upward trend in the collection of excise duty.

"We are taking all possible steps to collect as much revenue as possible by enforcing all measures," he said.

If one goes by the statistics prepared by the Excise department, the revenue collection has enhanced significantly during the past three years.

The government collected as excise duty Rs 368.11 crore in 2022-23, Rs 417 crore in 2023-24 and Rs 484.09 crore in 2024-25. The net growth in revenue collection stood at 16.09 per cent in the last financial year compared to 2023-24, according to excise department data.

However, liquor shop owners in the northeastern state failed to share the joy as they claimed, high licence fees for shops and not the rise in consumption are behind the increase in revenue collection.

“The revenue collection doesn’t reflect the actual consumption of alcohol in Tripura because the government has hiked the licence fee exorbitantly,” Amal Chandra Lodh, owner of a foreign liquor shop in Agartala, said.

In Tripura, licence fees per year are Rs 35 lakh, Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore, depending on category. In comparison, the same in Assam stands only at Rs one lakh or two lakh, he claimed.

“Yes, there has been a growth in alcohol consumption but not at the pace of revenue collection by the State Excise Organisation,” Lodh said.

During the Left Front rule, the licence fee was Rs 6 to 7 lakh a year and it has gone up between Rs 35 and Rs 1 crore after the BJP came to power in the state in 2018, officials said.

“The liquor trade is facing a tough time in the state because of the exorbitant licence fee. A few liquor vendors have shut down their outlets due to this. We have approached the government to bring down the licence fees but no tangible steps have been taken so far,” said Subrata Saha, secretary of All Tripura Retail FL Shops Association.

If the state government does not come out with a reasonable license fee, the liquor trade will disappear in the years to come, Saha said.

In West Tripura district, under which the state capital Agartala falls, altogether 148 foreign liquor shops are operational.