A new report says that the Maharashtra Excise Department will be unable to achieve the target of accruing ₹19,225 crores by the end of the financial year.
Officials said that this is due to a steep decrease in the consumption of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), beer, wine, and country liquor. The closure of liquor stores as a result of the coronavirus pandemic was also cited as one of the reasons for the revenue shortfall.
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Revenues from the excise department were crucial as the government was relying on it to mobilize resources. Currently, the state’s debt has gone over ₹5.2 lakh crores.
“I do not think we will be able to achieve the target of ₹19,225 crore, we will have to mobilize ₹11,449 crore in four months. For that people must consume more liquor, which appears difficult due to coronavirus. Last year, we mobilized ₹10,007 crore till November 19,’’ a senior official familiar with the matter said.
The original budget estimate for 2020-21 was ₹19,225 crores, but by November 2020, the department was only able to gather ₹ 7,776 crores, which is only around 40 per cent of the original target.
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An official said that around 1,842 lakh bulk litres (BL) of country liquor was sold between April and November 2020 whereas 2,388 lakh BL during the same timeframe last year. As for IMFL, around 1,151 lakh BL was purchased during April - November 2020 as compared to 1,411 lakh BL during the same period last year.
However, beer consumption noticed the most reduction, standing at 1,073 lakh BL sold between April-November 2020 as compared to 2,077 lakh BL sold during the same period in 2019. Authorities said that around 35 lakh BL of wine was sold between April and November this year, while 45 lakh BL was sold during the same months in 2019.
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