Pb Cabinet approves new excise policy, marginal increase in prices

The Punjab Cabinet on Friday approved the new excise policy, with marginal hike in the excise duty.

The Cabinet, which met here Friday evening under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, approved the policy for fiscal 2020-21 with continued focus on maintaining stability in the liquor trade while protecting the state's excise revenue.

Under the new policy, the excise duty at retail has been increased by Rs 5 per bottle for Punjab Made Liquor (PML) or country liquor, Rs 4 per bottle for Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMLF) and Rs 2 per bottle for beer, an official statement said.

The excise duty at wholesale remains unchanged for PML. It has been increased by Rs 62 per bottle to Rs 68 for strong beer.

According to the statement, it was also decided in the Cabinet that on experimental basis, the government may introduce an online platform for home delivery of liquor in Mohali city. It said this will be done in consultation with all the retail licensees of the city.

The experiment, however, will not be undertaken if even a single licensee objects to it, the statement said while giving details of the cabinet meet.