The much awaited Excise Policy for the year 2022-23 was approved in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur at the Secretariat on Sunday. Country liquor will now be 16 percent cheaper in the state. The license fee for this will be less. The cabinet decided that liquor contracts will not be auctioned this year. The cabinet has also approved the Himachal Pradesh Toll Policy, which includes auction and tendering of all toll barriers in the state.
Revenue receipt of Rs 2,131 crore is envisaged during the year 2022-23, which will be Rs 264 crore more than the financial year 2021-22. This shows an overall increase of 14 per cent in state excise revenue. The meeting approved the renewal of retail excise contracts at four per cent renewal fee per unit in the state in the financial year 2022-23. Its objective is to get a substantial increase in government revenue and to check the smuggling of country liquor under price reduction in neighboring states.
- Auction of toll barriers will be done through open bidding Toll barriers will be auctioned under open bidding in the state. Toll barriers were renewed last year. Now the cabinet has decided to conduct their open auction. The same arrangement has been made in the new policy.
- End to End Online Excise Administration System The Excise Act 2011 has been tightened keeping in view the irregularities found in established liquor bottling plants, wholesalers and retailers. An effective end-to-end online excise administration system will be set up in the state, which will include track and trace facility of liquor bottles, besides other modules for monitoring.
- Family will get four lakh compensation in case of death due to bee, rangad and monkey bite. The cabinet has given approval to amend the Himachal Pradesh Disaster Relief Rules-2012. Under this, the government will now give a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family members even on the deaths caused by the bites of bees, dyes, wasps and monkeys. Till now, only accidental drowning and deaths due to vehicular accidents get compensation of Rs 4 lakh. In the budget session also, this matter was raised prominently in the assembly.
