Yogi government targets Rs 20,595 crore in excise revenue

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is targeting Rs 20,595 crore in excise revenue during the current financial year, a hike of almost 45 per cent compared to net excise revenue mop-up during FY17.

Over the past five years, the excise duty collection in UP had clocked a maximum growth of about 19 per cent. In FY17, the revenue collection had grown by an abysmal low of 1.35 per cent. During FY14, the excise revenue had grown by 19 per cent to Rs 11,643 crore. (See table)

The Yogi government is confident of its excise kitty burgeoning during the current 2017-18 due to crackdown on illicit liquor/hooch trade and illegal transportation of liquor from neighbouring states, especially Haryana.

UP Excise Minister Jai Pratap Singh yesterday directed officials to further strengthen the departmental vigilance network and swoop down on illicit liquor manufacturing and interstate smuggling. He further asked officials to ensure that the excise revenue targets are met regularly since it forms a vital component of the state exchequer.

In 2016, the Akhilesh Yadav government had pared the state excise duty to curb smuggling of liquor and bootlegging. As a result, there was a drop of almost 25 per cent in the prices of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) while the prices of country liquor had also dropped in the state. The excise duty was tweaked since UP had been incurring heavy revenue losses to the tune of about 20 per cent owing to rampant smuggling from the neighbouring states.

Liquor smuggling had been quite rampant in the western region of UP due to significant price differential. The liquor retail prices were amongst the highest in the country due to steep rates of license fee, excise duty, among other factors.

Meanwhile, UP additional chief secretary Deepak Trivedi said excise revenue in August 2017 stood at Rs 1,236 crore compared to Rs 1,136 crore in August 2016. Cumulatively, UP had registered a growth of Rs 577 crore in excise revenue during April-August 2017 or 9.87 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Moreover, two million illicit liquor and 663 vehicles were seized in UP during the period and 4,218 persons arrested in the statewide excise vigilance drives.

The state clocked production of 4 million tonnes of molasses during 2016-17 sugarcane crushing season, 27 percent higher vis-à-vis last year. Mollases is a sugarcane byproduct extracted during sugar production and is used in the manufacture of country made liquor.