Mumbaikars to pay more for beer as excise duty spike up to 35%

In a metropolitan city where most people prefer to meet friends and family over a chilled glass of beer, the news of excise duty hike on their favourite alcohol is likely to be met with a lot of displeasure. Mumbaikars will now have to pay more for their pints as excise duty shoots up by 25 per cent for mild beers and 35 per cent for strong beers. This means that the prices for 330 ml of mild beer would shoot up by Rs 3, while Rs 4.5 more would be charged for strong beer. A full bottle or 600 ml of mild beer would now cost Rs 5 more, while one would have to shell Rs 6.5 more for strong beer.

"Earlier, 150% of the manufacturing cost or Rs 33 per bulk litre, whichever is higher, was the formula for imposing excise duty on mild beer. This has been changed to 175 per cent of the manufacturing cost or Rs 42 per bulk litre, whichever is higher," a report in Times of India quoted an excise official.

The report also mentioned that 200 per cent of the manufacturing cost or Rs 60 per bulk litre was levied on strong beer, which has now been changed to 235 per cent of manufacturing cost or Rs 80 per bulk litre.

After this hike the excise department would be able to make Rs 150 crore. The department is targeting Rs 14,000 crore in revenues this fiscal year, a steep hike from last year's Rs 12,288 crore.

Reports mention that while eatery owners are set to make changes in their menus, some feel that it is going to take some time to incorporate as it involves a lot of modification to their menus and price structure, while some feel that it is an unjust move.
 
It must be mentioned here that there are no excise duties on wine as production of wine is mostly concentrated in Nashik, and the state aims to boost wine production and demand.