Ranchi: The Jharkhand government on Wednesday approved the new Excise Policy based on the recommendation of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL). The decision was taken during the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
The government has decided to rope in Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation Limited (JSBCL) as the agency. Briefing the media, the secretary of the department Vinay Choubey said that four major changes have been brought that forms the new policy. He said that the government had sought the service of the CSMCL to carry out a study on how to make excise policy better so that Jharkhand increases its legal revenue and the illegal liquor business is stopped. In the report, CSMCL said that the maximum warehouse means maximum chances of leakage. He said that currently, the state has 75 warehouses for storage.
Now, there will be only five warehouses only at the divisional level. These will be well equipped with advanced surveillance, tracking, and storage systems, he said. The Secretary said that JSBCL will run the retail shops and the number of such shops will be 1500. He said that the government had earlier introduced this system but there was a decline in the state revenue but now everything has been revised. He further said that the study report has said that after the new policy the total revenue of Jharkhand excise will be Rs 3000 in the next three years which is only Rs 1800 crore currently, he said.
He added that CSMCL has advised certain changes in the 1915 excise policy of Bihar that Jharkhand had incorporated. There will be stringent provisions against the illegal liquor trade. The new policy will bring transparency to the pricing as the special hologram on bottles will carry all details from manufacturing to storage and price. Besides, a new policy for the bar will be made.