PANAJI
The 15% growth in excise collections was despite the Supreme Court ban on the sale of alcohol, through all formats, along national and state highways from April 1, this year.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had informed the house during monsoon session that expected loss due to SC order is Rs 7 crore to the state, as 2,443 licences for retail sale of liquor were not renewed.
Based on the information provided by Parrikar, the state is expected to lose Rs 2 crore on account of non
The 15% growth in excise collections was despite the Supreme Court ban on the sale of alcohol, through all formats, along national and state highways from April 1, this year.
Interestingly, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had informed the house during monsoon session that expected loss due to SC order is Rs 7 crore to the state, as 2,443 licences for retail sale of liquor were not renewed.
Based on the information provided by Parrikar, the state is expected to lose Rs 2 crore on account of non
-collection towards renewal of license fees for licenses not renewed and another Rs 5 crore on account of value added tax (VAT) lost on retail sales of liquor.
But, the fact that the state's excise collections were up by 15% for the period from April 2017, when SC liquor order was effective, shows that liquor sales haven't come down in Goa at all.
A source said, "It's true that a number of liquor shops and restaurants aren't able to serve alcohol along national and state highways. But people can always go to other areas to buy alcohol." During the monsoon session, Parrikar had also informed that out of 8,019 liquor licenses in the state, 3,498 are in Bardez, as on June 30. This shows that Bardez has 43.6% of total liquor licenses in the state.
Large parts of Bardez like Baga, Calangute and Anjuna are major tourist attractions and are also away from highways. In other words, Bardez has high concentration of liquor licenses due to tourist footfall and most of those liquor licenses aren't affected due to the SC order.
This also explains why excise collections are going upwards despite the apex court's ban.
The excise collections were up for all months in this financial year. Excise collections stood at Rs 20.9 crore in April 2017 (compared to Rs 20.3 crore in April 2016), Rs 27.45 crore in May 2017 (compared to Rs 23.63 crore in May 2016), Rs 28.18 crore in June 2017 (compared to Rs 25.34 crore in June 2016) and Rs 25.31 crore in July 2017 (compared to Rs 19.21 crore in July 2016).
But, the fact that the state's excise collections were up by 15% for the period from April 2017, when SC liquor order was effective, shows that liquor sales haven't come down in Goa at all.
A source said, "It's true that a number of liquor shops and restaurants aren't able to serve alcohol along national and state highways. But people can always go to other areas to buy alcohol." During the monsoon session, Parrikar had also informed that out of 8,019 liquor licenses in the state, 3,498 are in Bardez, as on June 30. This shows that Bardez has 43.6% of total liquor licenses in the state.
Large parts of Bardez like Baga, Calangute and Anjuna are major tourist attractions and are also away from highways. In other words, Bardez has high concentration of liquor licenses due to tourist footfall and most of those liquor licenses aren't affected due to the SC order.
This also explains why excise collections are going upwards despite the apex court's ban.
The excise collections were up for all months in this financial year. Excise collections stood at Rs 20.9 crore in April 2017 (compared to Rs 20.3 crore in April 2016), Rs 27.45 crore in May 2017 (compared to Rs 23.63 crore in May 2016), Rs 28.18 crore in June 2017 (compared to Rs 25.34 crore in June 2016) and Rs 25.31 crore in July 2017 (compared to Rs 19.21 crore in July 2016).
