PANAJI
The Goa government on Friday proposed amendments to the State’s Excise Rules to allow licence renewals at any time during the year and to introduce the option of three-year or five-year renewals. The move, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, will reduce annual visits by licence holders to the excise office.
Presenting the 2026–27 Budget in the Goa Legislative Assembly, Sawant said the existing system permits renewals only in the month of March. “The proposed changes would enable licence holders to renew their permits in advance during the year, while also allowing them to opt for longer renewal periods of three or five years,” he said.
Sawant said a provision of Rs 34 crore has been made for the Excise Department in the coming financial year.
He also announced that the government will introduce a ‘Track and Trace’ system to strengthen monitoring and control over excisable goods. Under the system, high-security labels embedded with QR codes will be affixed to excisable products to enable digital tracking.
To tighten regulation over the opening of new establishments, the government also proposed fixing the fee for new excise licences for shops and restaurants at Rs 20 lakh. In addition, the fee for transferring an excise licence to a non-Goan will be increased to Rs 25 lakh.
