Haryana announces new excise policy

Gurugram: The Haryana government on Thursday announced its new excise policy. The main objective of the government was to increase the revenue of the state from Rs 6,700 crore in the present financial year to Rs 7,500 crore in the next financial year.

To provide a competitive advantage to pubs and bars in Gurugram to that of Delhi, the state government is announcing that pubs and bars would be allowed to function for a longer period of time provided they pay more licenses fee per hour. Norms have also been eased for obtaining a license for the functions in the banquet halls.

For making sure that there are no difficulties faced by the owner of the banquet halls, the process of obtaining permits will now be made digitised. Norms have also been eased by the government for selling more foreign-made liquor, especially, to those vendors who operate from the malls. Moreover, the quota of country-made liquor has been reduced from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. The state government has also made a provision to ease the export policies of liquor from the state

Even with norms that have been relaxed by the Haryana government to improve the revenue potential of Gurugram as well as Haryana, there have also been tighter regulations that will now be exercised. The state government announced that there will now be strict monitoring that will be undertaken at the bottling plants and microbreweries.

It is important to note that in comparison to Delhi, Gurugram had taken a lead in setting up microbreweries. Most of the owners of microbreweries, however, are now closing their shops due to losses. One of the big complaints of microbrewery owners is the huge fee that has been levied by the state government.

The annual license fees to run a microbrewery had been increased from Rs 15 to 18 lakh, which is the highest in the National Capital Region (NCR). In 2019 there were over 30 microbreweries that were closed down in the city.

It was also announced that the liquor vending units will not be allowed to function in the rural areas if the residents resist the opening of the vending unit. In the past, not only from the rural areas but even the posh urban areas residents have raised objections on the opening of the liquor vending units in their neighbourhood.