Liquor to get costlier by Rs 5 per bottle

Now,Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer will be costlier by around Rs 4-5 per bottle.

With the increase,the annual revenue from the sale of liquor is likely to go up by Rs 10 crore. Last year,the Administration had earned Rs 127 crore as revenue.

On IMFL,the excise duty and additional licence fee has been increased by 33 per cent. With the increase,excise duty on liquor will rise from Rs 15 per proof litre to Rs 20 per proof litre,on beer having alcoholic content up to 5.25 per cent,from Rs 3 to Rs 6 per bottle,on beer having alcoholic content exceeding 5.25 per cent,from Rs 6 to Rs 10 per 650 ml bottle.

A case of liquor bottles (12 bottles) is equivalent to 6.75 proof litres.

The excise duty and additional licence fee on wine,champagne and cider has been increased by 150 per cent,which would increase the price by Rs 6 per bottle.

“Roughly per case of IMFL has become costlier by Rs 33.75. If you add 13.50 per cent taxes,including 12.5 per cent VAT,it becomes around Rs 37.25 per case,” a local liquor contractor said.

Also,the fee of various licences has been increased. For wholesale licences of foreign liquor,the fee has been increased by 25 per cent.

Now,licence for retail sale of foreign liquor from pre-fabricated structures will cost Rs 35 lakh; for retail sale of country liquor from pre-fabricated structures Rs 33 lakh; for conventional retail sale of country liquor and foreign liquor Rs 27.5 lakh; and of modern liquor shops Rs 22 lakh.

“We have not touched the existing excise policy much. In fact,with increase in excise duty and additional licence fee,we are aiming at around 8-9 per cent more revenue in 2010-11. The policy is definitely consumer friendly,” a senior UT official said.

The total number of vends in the city remain the same (217). The last date to apply to renew existing licences is March 30. If some licences are not renewed,new retail licences will be issued — the last date to apply is April 8.