Punjab cabinet clears excise policy, aims at over Rs 10,000 cr collections

The Punjab cabinet gave its nod on Saturday to the excise policy for 2024-25, which is aimed at garnering revenue to the tune of more than Rs 10,000 crore from the sale of liquor.

A decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here.

Addressing reporters here after the meeting, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the cabinet has approved the new excise policy -- the third such policy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

"For the first time, more than Rs 10,000 crore will be generated from it," Cheema said.

He said during the previous Congress regime, the revenue from liquor sale was merely Rs 6,151 crore.

The new excise policy envisages allotment of liquor vends through a draw of lots, the minister said, adding that instead of 172 groups, 232 groups have been formed this time.

"Liquor vends will be allotted through a draw of lots," he said.

In another decision, the cabinet also gave its approval for allowing colonisers to pay the pending external development charges (EDC) in three instalments in a year and a half, Cheema said.

The EDC is collected by development authorities from the promoters of projects in accordance with the rates notified by the government from time to time.

These charges are utilised by the authorities to provide new infrastructure and strengthen the existing infrastructure in the vicinity of these projects.

It has been decided to reschedule the payment of the overdue EDC in three six-monthly instalments by charging interest at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, an official spokesperson said in a statement.

The cabinet has also given its nod to extending the One-Time Settlement (OTS) scheme of 2023 for the settlement of tax arrears, from March 31 to June 30.

This is a big relief for the traders of the state as the scheme launched last year has got an overwhelming response from them, the spokesperson said.

The scheme has already collected Rs 47.5 crore through 41,814 applications received from the traders, whereas the collections of the OTS 2021 and OTS-2 during the previous government were merely Rs 4.37 crore and Rs 4.93 crore respectively.

The cabinet has also given its approval for creating 1,390 additional posts of medical officers, aimed at ensuring uninterrupted and quality healthcare services to people.

The decision was taken in the larger public interest to overcome the shortage of medical officers in the state.

These posts will be filled through the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences in Faridkot, after taking those out of the purview of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), the spokesperson said.

The cabinet has also given its consent to create 20 new posts, including four of medical officers and five of staff nurses, for the newly-upgraded urban community health centre at Gurdaspur.

The state government recently upgraded the urban primary health centre into a 30-bed community health centre to impart quality healthcare services to people in the border district.