Ranchi: Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL), a consultant appointed by the Department of Excise and Prohibition, has provided many suggestions to the Jharkhand Government on the subject of revenue augmentation. In this context, a presentation was made by CSMCL to the state government team under the chairmanship of the Minister of Excise.
CSMCL has suggested that in Jharkhand Excise Act- 1915 and as amended Act- 2015 (Jharkhand Excise Act) there is a need to bring strict legal provisions regarding the manufacture, transportation, purchase, sale, consumption of illegal liquor.
In the context of Jharkhand Liquor Store and Wholesale Rules- 2021 (Wholesale Policy), this fact has been brought to notice that in the present system 75 godowns including distributor warehouse and wholesale godown are located in different districts of the state. It is a challenging task to keep continuous monitoring of such a large number of godowns. From this point of view, it was advised to reduce it by holding a rational review. It was also advised to operate these warehouses/godowns by JSBCL so that there is no possibility of transportation of illegal liquor from these establishments.
Further in the Jharkhand Excise (Retail Policy) Rules-2018, on the lines of states like Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, it has been advised to operate shops by private agencies under the close control of the government. In the context of Jharkhand Produce (Country Liquor Manufacture, Bottling and Storage) Rules-2018 (Country liquor Policy) it has been suggested to use glass bottles instead of PET/ plastic bottles from the point of view of environmental protection. Along with this, in order to increase the consumption of country liquor, amendments have been suggested on the subject of strength, size and rates of liquor. With these amendments, illegal Jawa, Mahua, Chulai liquor manufacturing can also be controlled.
Certain suggestions were also made in the Bar Licensing Policy (Bar License) so that there is no possibility of a loss of revenue by illegal use of liquor storage by the operators of the bar. Many suggestions have also been received in the present Excise Duty Regime of Jharkhand State, which is mainly related to reducing the landing price at wholesale and retail shops. With these amendments, an increase in revenue will also be ensured without any change in MRP rate of liquor and due to the lower landing rate, illegal liquor manufacturing will automatically come down. The Minister of Excise directed the Secretary, Excise and Prohibition Department and the officers of the department to take a detailed review of the advice received by CSMCL and take appropriate action.