http://www.deccanherald.com/content/257721/excise-department-high-liquor-sales.html
Excise department on a high as liquor sales soar
Sunday 19 July 2015
Vijesh Kamath Bangalore:
Windfall attributed to hike in excise duties, curbs on spurious products
Whisky is the choicest drink of the people in the State among Indian Made Liquors (IMLs).
In Karnataka, whisky sells more than brandy, rum, gin and vodka as per the consumption statistics compiled by the State Excise department. Rum is the highest grosser in Kerala, while it is brandy in Tamil Nadu.
Brands apart, consumption of liquor and beer in the State has increased dramatically over the years. Statistics speak. The sale of IML increased from 325.48 lakh cases in 2007-08 to 494 lakh cases in 2011-12 (each case has nine litres of liquor). Similarly, beer sales increased from 143.33 lakh cases in 2007-08 to 212.32 lakh cases in 2011-12.
“We do not want to encourage drinking, but want to provide wholesome quality liquor to those who want to drink,” says Excise Commissioner Aravind Jannu.
The increase in consumption has set the cash registers ringing. The revenue mobilisation by the State excise department has more than doubled over the last five years - from Rs 4,811 crore in 2007-08, the department has clocked Rs 9,827 crore at the end of March 2012.
The department has been set a whopping target of Rs 11,200 crore this fiscal. It is the second department among the State’s revenue generating institutions to have been set a target above Rs 10,000 crore.
The revenues have soared despite the fact that no new licences for opening private liquor retail shops have been issued since 1992. Excise department officials attribute the windfall in revenue to combination increase in consumption, hike in excise duties and control in sale of spurious liquor.
“Over the last couple of years, we have eliminated 1,907 illicit distillery (ID) centres. Illicit liquor is usually manufactured in the open. An ID ‘centre’ can be started anywhere across a landscape. We have managed to root out a majority of them,” Jannu said.
In 2008-09, as many as 2,048 ID centres had been identified. As in May 2012, only 131 ID centres remain. The excise districts of Bangalore, Bangalore (rural), Tumkur, Ramanagara, Chitradurga, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikmagalur, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Mysore have been declared illicit liquor free, Jannu said.
The tracking is through a “beat system” initiated by the excise department. More than 1,900 routes crisscrossing the length and breadth of the State have been identified. Excise inspectors will patrol these routes and keep track of those accused previously of illicit liquor trade, former arrack vendors, IML vendors and licensed liquor shops. Besides, excise inspectors will be equipped with revolvers to tackle bootleggers, Jannu said.
In a bid to curb the sale of spurious products, the excise department had stickers affixed on liquor bottles with the security labels having as many as 20 in-built features. Security labels have features like hologram, bar code and guillochi pattern (intricate repetitive pattern seen on currency notes).
All bottled liquors will have to be compulsorily affixed with the hi-tech security labels.
“The new labels will also help in keeping track of liquor consignment. It has gone a long way in checking leakage of revenue by way of curbing sale of non-duty paid liquor,” Jannu said.
The MSIL advantage
The opening of government-run Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL) outlets has proved to be a hit. These outlets were opened following complaints of sale of liquor at above MRP rates.
Licences have been given to MSIL to open 463 such outlets (two places in each taluk and two each in district headquarters).
As many as 319 outlets are now functional. “These outlets have been received well by the people. It has also helped in bringing down the business of liquor sellers who were selling liquor at a premium, in the vicinity of the outlets. They have now no option but to follow MRP discipline,” Jannu said.
Raking in moolah
FY Target Collection (Rs in crore)
2009-10 6,500 7,001
2010-11 7,500 8,345
2011-12 9,150 9,827
2012-13 11,200 2,101 (up to June 12, 2012)
(FY: Financial year), Source: Excise department
Stats to sip on
* The State has a total of 8,191 retail liquor shops, clubs (serving liquor), hotels and boarding houses (serving liquor), bars and restaurants.
* Bangalore city has the highest number of liquor shops (853), clubs serving liquor (81), hotels and boarding houses serving liquor (131) and bars and restaurants (1,346).
* Yadgir district has the least number of retail liquor shops - 46
* The districts of Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Koppal and Yadgir do not have even a single liquor serving club
Three cheers to microbeer
Drink beer even as you see it being brewed in a room right in front of you. Brewpubs or microbreweries as they are known are catching up in the pub city of Bangalore. Three microbreweries have started functioning in Bangalore - one at Binnamangala, one on Hosur Main Road and one at UB City.
The lager beer that comes in bottles and cans are manufactured in huge breweries. Microbreweries can be set up in a room, but the brewing technology will remain the same. More microbreweries are likely to come up in the State with the excise department relaxing the rules for setting up the units. It is no longer necessary to have an existing excise licence to set up a microbrewery. One only needs to have the necessary resources and own 10,000 sq ft floor space to set up a unit.
In Karnataka, whisky sells more than brandy, rum, gin and vodka as per the consumption statistics compiled by the State Excise department. Rum is the highest grosser in Kerala, while it is brandy in Tamil Nadu.
Brands apart, consumption of liquor and beer in the State has increased dramatically over the years. Statistics speak. The sale of IML increased from 325.48 lakh cases in 2007-08 to 494 lakh cases in 2011-12 (each case has nine litres of liquor). Similarly, beer sales increased from 143.33 lakh cases in 2007-08 to 212.32 lakh cases in 2011-12.
“We do not want to encourage drinking, but want to provide wholesome quality liquor to those who want to drink,” says Excise Commissioner Aravind Jannu.
The increase in consumption has set the cash registers ringing. The revenue mobilisation by the State excise department has more than doubled over the last five years - from Rs 4,811 crore in 2007-08, the department has clocked Rs 9,827 crore at the end of March 2012.
The department has been set a whopping target of Rs 11,200 crore this fiscal. It is the second department among the State’s revenue generating institutions to have been set a target above Rs 10,000 crore.
The revenues have soared despite the fact that no new licences for opening private liquor retail shops have been issued since 1992. Excise department officials attribute the windfall in revenue to combination increase in consumption, hike in excise duties and control in sale of spurious liquor.
“Over the last couple of years, we have eliminated 1,907 illicit distillery (ID) centres. Illicit liquor is usually manufactured in the open. An ID ‘centre’ can be started anywhere across a landscape. We have managed to root out a majority of them,” Jannu said.
In 2008-09, as many as 2,048 ID centres had been identified. As in May 2012, only 131 ID centres remain. The excise districts of Bangalore, Bangalore (rural), Tumkur, Ramanagara, Chitradurga, Koppal, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Chikmagalur, Chamarajanagar, Mandya and Mysore have been declared illicit liquor free, Jannu said.
The tracking is through a “beat system” initiated by the excise department. More than 1,900 routes crisscrossing the length and breadth of the State have been identified. Excise inspectors will patrol these routes and keep track of those accused previously of illicit liquor trade, former arrack vendors, IML vendors and licensed liquor shops. Besides, excise inspectors will be equipped with revolvers to tackle bootleggers, Jannu said.
In a bid to curb the sale of spurious products, the excise department had stickers affixed on liquor bottles with the security labels having as many as 20 in-built features. Security labels have features like hologram, bar code and guillochi pattern (intricate repetitive pattern seen on currency notes).
All bottled liquors will have to be compulsorily affixed with the hi-tech security labels.
“The new labels will also help in keeping track of liquor consignment. It has gone a long way in checking leakage of revenue by way of curbing sale of non-duty paid liquor,” Jannu said.
The MSIL advantage
The opening of government-run Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL) outlets has proved to be a hit. These outlets were opened following complaints of sale of liquor at above MRP rates.
Licences have been given to MSIL to open 463 such outlets (two places in each taluk and two each in district headquarters).
As many as 319 outlets are now functional. “These outlets have been received well by the people. It has also helped in bringing down the business of liquor sellers who were selling liquor at a premium, in the vicinity of the outlets. They have now no option but to follow MRP discipline,” Jannu said.
Raking in moolah
FY Target Collection (Rs in crore)
2009-10 6,500 7,001
2010-11 7,500 8,345
2011-12 9,150 9,827
2012-13 11,200 2,101 (up to June 12, 2012)
(FY: Financial year), Source: Excise department
Stats to sip on
* The State has a total of 8,191 retail liquor shops, clubs (serving liquor), hotels and boarding houses (serving liquor), bars and restaurants.
* Bangalore city has the highest number of liquor shops (853), clubs serving liquor (81), hotels and boarding houses serving liquor (131) and bars and restaurants (1,346).
* Yadgir district has the least number of retail liquor shops - 46
* The districts of Bidar, Chamarajanagar, Koppal and Yadgir do not have even a single liquor serving club
Three cheers to microbeer
Drink beer even as you see it being brewed in a room right in front of you. Brewpubs or microbreweries as they are known are catching up in the pub city of Bangalore. Three microbreweries have started functioning in Bangalore - one at Binnamangala, one on Hosur Main Road and one at UB City.
The lager beer that comes in bottles and cans are manufactured in huge breweries. Microbreweries can be set up in a room, but the brewing technology will remain the same. More microbreweries are likely to come up in the State with the excise department relaxing the rules for setting up the units. It is no longer necessary to have an existing excise licence to set up a microbrewery. One only needs to have the necessary resources and own 10,000 sq ft floor space to set up a unit.
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