Premium liquor prices to go down in Karnataka; beer, IML prices set to head north

Sources in the Karnataka Finance Department said the tax slabs for all liquor brands will be out shortly

Due to the high prices of premium liquor, people travelling to other states purchased premium liquor there and brought it to Karnataka, said a source. (Representational Photo)

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has proposed to hike prices of beer and Indian Made Liquor (IML) in his budget speech on Friday.

“In order to rationalise tax slabs and make them competitive with neighbouring states, the tax slabs for IML and beer will be revised,” the CM said. While tax slabs for popular brands will go up, there will be a downward revision of prices of premium brands.

According to the CM, the revenue collection target for the Excise department for the 2024-25 fiscal has been set at Rs 38,525 crore. For the previous fiscal, the target was Rs 36,000 crore.

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Sources in the Finance Department said the tax slabs for all brands will be out shortly.

Due to the high prices of premium liquor, people travelling to other states purchased premium liquor there and brought it to Karnataka, said a source.

Contribution of excise duty from premium liquor was around two to three per cent, compared to a high of around 50 per cent in markets like Hyderabad,” he added.

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