The new policy of the Excise Department, which is one of the highest revenue generating departments of the state, has not yet come into existence. The period of the old policy is ending this month.
Generally, the information about the new policy is given in the budget session while presenting the departmental budget. It mentions the estimated revenue, which increases or decreases the amount of the item of estimated revenue receipt.
The draft policy for the new financial year was sent to the government about a month ago, but it has not yet been approved. It is believed that if this policy does not come before the cabinet before the budget session, then the existing policy can be given an extension of one month.
The excise revenue target of the government in the current financial year is Rs 3600 crore. Against this, the department has received Rs 3200 crore till February. At present, the department is lagging behind by Rs 400 crore from the set target. The reason for this was also non-allotment of 622 shops fixed by the department.
Even in the year 2020, the department could not achieve the target of 3200 crores. In view of this, the Excise Headquarters has drawn up the Excise Policy for the financial year 2023-24, in which such provisions have been made that all approved shops are allotted. For this, some changes are proposed in the system of online bidding for allotment of shops.
The proposal also includes a point to make the policy one year instead of two years. Along with this, a reduction in the prices of liquor is also proposed. In this, a plan has also been proposed to install GPS in the vehicles engaged in excise transport to prevent smuggling and for a transparent system. A request has also been made to make a budget provision for this.
