Excise revenue surpasses ₹10 cr for 1st time, says Punjab finance minister Harpal Cheema
Punjab finance, planning, excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the department has received overwhelming response in its ongoing e-tender process for the allotment of retail liquor licences for the fiscal year 2025-26
Punjab finance, planning, excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said the state’s excise revenue has seen an “unprecedented” cumulative growth over the past three years, rising from ₹6,254 crore to over ₹10,200 crore.
“For the first time in Punjab’s history, the excise revenue will surpass the five-digit mark with the target of ₹10,145 crore for the financial year 2024-25,” he said.
He said the department has received overwhelming response in its ongoing e-tender process for the allotment of retail liquor licences for the fiscal year 2025-26. He said a reserve price of ₹9,017 crore was set up for 207 retail liquor groups. As of March 20, 179 of these groups, accounting for 87% of the total, have been successfully allotted, fetching ₹8,681 crore along with an additional ₹871 crore as premium against the reserved price of ₹7,810 crore.
Cheema expressed confidence in achieving the target of ₹11,020 crore for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26. He said the tremendous response to the e-tendering process suggests that the department is likely to surpass this target, potentially reaching approximately ₹11800 crores, which would represent a 16% increase over the previous year’s excise revenue.
Criticising the previous governments, he said that during the Congress regime from 2002 to 2007, excise revenue declined by 6.9%, falling from ₹1,462 crore in 2002 to ₹1,363 crore in 2007. “During the decade-long SAD-BJP rule, the term mafia became synonymous with governance and the excise revenue dropped from ₹4,796 crore in 2015-16 to ₹4,400 crore in 2016-17 due to a policy designed to benefit cronies,” Cheema alleged.
According to the minister, the Congress regime from 2017 to 2022 followed a similar trajectory, with excise revenue stagnating for first three years and reaching just ₹6,200 crore by 2021-22. He also recalled the tragic hooch incident during the Congress tenure that claimed 128 lives.
