PANJIM: Despite COVID-19 pandemic, the excise department collected revenue of Rs 509.11 crore for the financial year 2020-2021 as against Rs 487.69 crore collected during 2019-2020, thereby registering an increase by 4.39 per cent.
The department had set projected target of Rs 547.95 crore for the last fiscal year but the revenue collection for the first five months dropped than the projected target. From September 2020, the department’s collection started increasing and it collected Rs 509.11 crore, which was 4.39 per cent more than revenue collected in 2019-2020.
Superintendent of Excise Mahesh R Korgaonkar said that for the financial year 2020-2021 the government had set a projected target of Rs 547.95 crore and we did not revise our target even after having negative growth for the first five months due to Coronavirus.
“Our revenue collection showed growth from September 2020 onwards and we collected Rs 509.11 crore for the last financial year than the projected target of Rs 547.95 crore. But the collection was 4.39 per cent more compared to Rs 487.69 crore collected during 2019-2020,” Korgaonkar said.
Korgaonkar said that the revenue collection increased as sales of liquor increased due to influx of tourists and other events despite drop in export of liquor to foreign countries due to pandemic. In March 2021 the increase was due to renewal of licence fees.
For the current fiscal year 2021-2022, the department has been given a target of Rs 598.36 crore revenue collections and in its first month (April), it collected Rs 47.68 crore than the projected target of Rs 33 crore.
Meanwhile, the Goa government is likely to reduce the prices of foreign liquor in the State so as to compete with Delhi, Haryana and Chandigarh, where foreign liquor is sold at cheap rates. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had announced about the reduction of rates of foreign liquor in his budget for the year 2021-2022.
