Liquor prices likely to remain stable

Liquor prices in the state are likely to remain the same as the state government did not levy any additional excise duty (AED) both on Indian Made Liquor (IML) and beer.

This is likely to boost the liquor industry, which is struggling to fully recover from the business loss incurred during the three successive Covid-19 waves.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, while presenting the budget for the year 2022-23, has, however, set a revenue collection target of Rs 29,000 crore for the excise department. This is likely to be met by increasing the sale of liquor in the state.

The excise department was given a target to achieve Rs 24,580 crore in 2021-22. The officials have so far mopped a revenue of Rs 23,726 crore (as on February). Excise revenue is one of the primary sources of revenue for the government which invests a major portion of its collections on welfare schemes and infrastructure projects.

The government had hiked excise duty by 11% in May 2020, in addition to the 6% hike announced in the state budget for 2020-21.

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