Cheers! Liquor Smuggling In UP Down, Revenue Up By 55 Per Cent; Thanks To Yogi Government’s New Policy Reforms

Government of Uttar Pradesh has seen an increase in its excise revenue by 55 per cent, thanks to the new policy aimed at curbing smuggling of liquor. The cartels have taken a blow because of the move, and the revenue touched Rs 10,000 crore just between April and August this year.

As opposed to Rs 6,425 crore last year during the same months, the state excise department has seen a gigantic rise in collection of revenues due to the measures adopted by the state government.

Business Standard reported that earlier this year in January, the government had approved the incoming new excise policy for 2018-19 financial year. Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh has informed Business Standard that the new policy is aimed at hitting the crony capitalists and breaking the monopoly in the liquor trade. This will bring about transparency in the way the department functions.

The new policy has swept aside the special excise zone of Meerut that was created during Mayawati’s term. The zone consisted of Meerut, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Bareilly divisions that directly benefited the Ponty Chadha’s Wave Group. This led to a monopoly being established on a wholesale and retail scale.

The traders will now be required to bid individually for each retail outlet online. A bidder is only allowed up to maximum of two shops in a district. In totality, there are 18,000 liquor stores in UP.

Use of holograms, real-time tracking systems are being introduced. The reason for liquor smuggling is due to the higher excise duty in the state. The department has conducted over 1,42,000 raids between April and August, which has led to the arrest of 1,031 persons. 326 vehicles have been impounded, and six lakh litres of illegal liquor has been seized.