SHOMA PATNAIK | NT
PANAJI
Roughly three months after the Supreme Court ban on highway liquor came into force, Goa’s revenue from liquor remains intact.
In fact, it increased 10 per cent in the first two months of this year, sources in the excise department said.
A senior official on Wednesday said that excise revenue has not come down in the least, as there has been aggregate collection of Rs 48.3 crore in April and May 2017.
The comparative excise revenue collected during April-May 2016 was Rs 43.9 crore. The official said that revenue collection of the department is almost back to normal.
“The consumption of liquor has been unaffected as buyers are purchasing from interior shops,” he said.
The senior official added that most of the department’s revenue in May came from excise duty which shows that sales of liquor are on track.
For 2017-18, the excise department has set a target of Rs 386 crore, and expects to achieve it.
According to the government, the SC liquor order was not expected to adversely affect state revenue from excise in anyway. However, it is affecting livelihood of the people dependant on the liquor trade. Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma said that unlike the states like Punjab and Haryana, which earn exceptionally through liquor by auctioning licences, “Goa’s earnings through liquor has been normal”. The Chief Secretary added that the government would follow up with the decision to appeal to the SC against the ban.
About 2,000 liquor outlets, including shops, bars and restaurants are closed in the state after the highway liquor order was implemented from April 1 2017.
Earlier, the excise department had estimated that 3,127 outlets would be adversely affected by the SC order. But a relaxation in the distance from 500 metre to 200 metre for towns with population less than 20,000 saved about 1000 outlets from closure.
In December 2016, the SC ordered shutdown of all liquor shops within 500 metre distance of national and state highways to prevent road accidents caused by drunken driving.
Excise officials said the ban has not pushed down liquor sales, as such the order would not affect revenues in the coming months. However, Goa Bar and Restaurant Owners Association president Michael Carrascao said that traditional bars along highways have taken a big hit due to shutdown of business. He said that bar and restaurant owners would shortly appeal to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to take up their case.