Now, pay 15% extra for beer in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: The unrelenting summer has not only become harsher but costlier for some. On Monday, the state government increased the prices of beer by 15% with immediate effect to ride out severe payment crisis that has gripped the state since it started doling out the unbudgeted farm loan waiver.
The beer surcharge follows a similar fuel surcharge by the energy department last week, making power costlier by 55 paise for all kinds of customers. Although excise commissioner Somnath Mishra confirmed the levy of the new surcharge, he declined to share the extent of the revenue windfall that the government stands to gain from the decision. However, he said that the beer sales have been down this year despite a scorching summer.
The beer price increase comes after a hike of around 13% in April this year. When asked about the reason for another hike in three months, Mishra declined to comment. But sources in the government said that the state’s coffers were completely drained and, currently, it was sifting through all revenue streams to raise new taxes.
The beer price hike was one of the easiest decisions to make as it does not impact large sections of the society. Instead of resorting to steep power surcharge like last week that had to be borne by all sections of the society, increasing the beer price was relatively easier.
The government does not have many other items under its control to raise rates under the GST regime. After power and excise, petrol is the only other item where the state government have some option to increase rates.
There are reports that the government is now unable to pay salaries for June of certain departments. TOI was the first to report how contractors and vendors have not been paid for several months, leading to some crucial infrastructure projects getting stalled. One has also heard that budgets of most of the departments have been curtailed.