Delhi govt to get Rs 10,000 crore revenue from bidding of liquor shops under new excise policy

In 2020-21, Sisodia said there was a 41% decrease in revenue while it is 23% this fiscal as of now

The Delhi government earned 23% less revenue in the current financial year due to Covid-19 but it is expecting a leg up with the auction of liquor shops through which it is expecting to cough up around Rs 10,000 crore, an increase of around Rs 3,500 crore under the new excise policy.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told reporters that tax collection has been hit in the past two fiscals owing to Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns. In 2020-21, he said there was a 41% decrease in revenue while it is 23% this fiscal as of now.

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"One good thing is that we will have better revenue collection in the next 12 months as we expect to get around Rs 10,000 crore through auctions of liquor shops under the new excise policy. There will be around Rs 3,500 crore extra revenue from what we got in 2019-20 when it was around Rs 6,300 crore," he said.

Owing to the dip in tax collections, the Deputy Chief Minister said the administration has cut down on all expenses other than salaries and those related to Covid-19 pandemic. The GST collection was down by 23%, VAT by 25%, Excise Duty 30%, Stamp Duty 16% and Motor vehicle tax by 19%.

He said Delhi gets only Rs 325 crore as grant from the Centre while Delhiites pay Rs 1.4 lakh crore as tax to the Centre.

"It will be tough for Delhi in the future as the Centre is not helping us. We have been demanding that Delhi should be given its share from the central pool," he said.

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