Haryana slashes excise duty on beer, spirits to get pricier

The policy tweaks have not been made public, and it was not immediately known how much prices will be affected by the move

The Haryana Cabinet on Tuesday tweaked its excise policy, slashing the rates of mild beer and ready-to-drink beverages, but making strong beer, Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), country liquor (50-degree proof), and metro liquor (65-degree proof) more expensive.

The policy tweaks have not been made public, and it was not immediately known how much prices will be affected by the move. (HT Archive)

The tax revision will come into effect from June 12, as is aimed at promoting low-alcohol-content drinks, officials aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

The policy tweaks have not been made public, and it was not immediately known how much prices will be affected by the move. It was also not known whether the prices of foreign liquor will be affected.

A senior excise department official, declining to be named, said the price of IMFL bottles will increase by around 3%, but refused to share any other details.

As part of the excise policy 2023-24, the Haryana cabinet also gave its nod for a reduction in the L-10E licence fee for pubs.

The licence fee for pubs has been reduced from ₹5 lakh to ₹4 lakh in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat and Panchkula — cities with a municipal corporation. For districts having a municipal corporation, the pubs’ license fee has been decreased from ₹2 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh.

An excise department official said that there has been an increase in the basic quota of country liquor, IMFL and imported foreign liquor in the new policy. “The excise revenue in the last two years has increased from ₹6,786 crore (2020-21 fiscal) to ₹9,687 crore in 2022-23 fiscal,’’ the spokesperson said.

The government is now aiming to cross ₹10,000 crore with the implementation of the 2022-23 excise policy. In the last two years, 100% of the licence fee at which the retail vends were allotted has been recovered by the state government, the spokesperson said.

Caution boards to be installed outside bars, pubs

As part of the tweaks in the excise policy, caution boards would be displayed outside all hotels, pubs, bars, restaurants, and cafés serving liquor under an excise licence.

Furthermore, to ensure the safety of staff and customers, it will be compulsory for all retail vends in urban areas, taverns and wholesale licensees to install fire-fighting equipment. CCTV cameras shall also be installed in all of the shops, and godowns.