Team Herald
PANJIM: Notwithstanding a partial impact of the Supreme Court (SC) ruling banning the sale of liquor along highways, the State Excise Department earned Rs 394.67 crore in the last financial year, an impressive jump of close to 19 percent from 2016-17.
“The Excise Department has earned Rs 394.67 crore (as against its target of Rs 386 crore) through sale of liquor and licence fees during the last financial year. This amount is a steep hike by 18.92 per cent from the preceding year,” an excise officer said.
In March 2018, the last month of the financial year, the department earned around Rs 59.25 crore compared to Rs 44.79 crore in the corresponding month last year.
The State also saw around 220 new liquor outlets and around 9,036 renewals of different types of excise licences. The total licences are not those that come under the ambit of apex court’s December 15, 2016 judgment. Of the fresh licences, 115 have been issued to outlets in the tourist-popular Bardez taluka followed by 32 each in Tiswadi and Salcete.
Revenue collection in the last financial year could have crossed Rs 400 crore had renewals of 1,332 liquor licences – the fate of which lies with the State government – been granted.
The fate of these will be decided by the Finance Department following the SC’s February order giving State governments the discretion to decide whether areas covered by local self-governing bodies or areas proximate to municipal pockets should be exempted from the ban.
In 2016-17 FY, the department had achieved its target by collecting Rs 320 crore; the overall collection had suffered due to demonetisation and the election code of conduct coupled with the SC order banning sale of liquor on the highways. Around 3,210 outlets, located within 500 mtrs of the highways had come under the order’s ambit. The amended order on March 31, 2017 came as relief to around 1,203 outlets as it offered some relaxation to outlets in small towns located beyond 220 mtrs. A few hundred outlets were thereafter excluded from the order through modifications in the law.
The department also approved applications of two liquor license holders in Ponda and Mapusa seeking to relocate their premises to areas outside the ambit of the SC order. Still hoping for relief, no affected license holder has applied for transfer of license so far, the officer said.
