shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government on Monday decided to go in for auction of the retail excise vends putting an end to previous BJP government’s policy of “tender” renewals that the Congress felt had caused huge loss to the exchequer during the past five years.
The government expects nearly 15 to 20 per cent increase in the revenue collections through auction-cum-tender policy. The annual revenue from the excise/liquor sale of over Rs 2,000 crore.
The decision to scrap the earlier process was taken by the Cabinet which met here under Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
“The Cabinet gave approval for the auction-cum-tender of retail excise vends in the state for the year 2023-24 with an objective to gain adequate enhancement in government revenue, reduction in the price of liquor and curb its smuggling from the neighbouring states,” an official spokesman said while giving details of the Cabinet decisions.
The Cabinet decided to introduce keg draught beer in retail vends with a capacity of 5 litres. Customers would benefit from this as more varieties of beer will be available to them. Bottling of imported wine in the wineries of the state has been allowed, which would ensure that bestselling high-range wine brands will now be easily available to the customers.
In order to facilitate the horticulturists and to boost the economy, it has been decided to introduce a new category of liquor obtained by fermentation of fruits and their distillation or by blending.
In order to boost tourism, it has been decided that the L-3, L-4, and L-5 license holders shall be allowed to have mini bars for occupants in all rooms of 3-star rated hotels and above.
An effective, end-to-end online excise administration system shall be set up in the state which shall include the facility of track and trace of liquor bottles besides other modules for real-time monitoring. The policy has been framed taking into account stakeholders which include government, consumers, retailers, wholesalers, bottling plants, distilleries, hotels and bars.
The Cabinet also decided to introduce Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Bill, 2023 in the coming Vidhan Sabha session and implement The Himachal Pradesh Water Cess on Hydropower Generation Ordinance, 2023 with effect from March 10, 2023.