Excise revenues bring cheer to Karnataka in Q1

BENGALURU: Things are looking up for State’s revenues, at least on the excise front. While a nationwide complete lockdown hit excise revenues hard last year during the first quarter, Karnataka has achieved nearly its budget estimated targets this time around. In the first quarter of this fiscal year — between April and June — it has received Rs 5,954.07 crore in excise revenue, which is Rs 2,122.90 crore more than the corresponding period last year – an increase of around 55 per cent.

The State Government’s decision to keep liquor stores open for a few hours in the day during the lockdown seems to have helped mop up the revenues that were otherwise sure to take a beating yet again.
The budget estimate for excise revenue for 2021-22 is Rs 24,580 crore. In the last three months, the state has achieved 24.2 per cent of that target. During this time last year, excise revenue made up only 16.8 per cent of estimates.

The Excise Department on Friday shared the numbers along with the source of revenue. It revealed that 154.19 lakh carton boxes (CBs) of Indian Made Liquor were sold in the first quarter, while 45.38 lakh CBs of beer were sold. April saw the highest sales of IML as well as beer. 

ACTION PLAN FOR SCS, STS GETS GOVT APPROVAL
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Development Council meeting on Friday approved the action plan for works to be carried out under the Scheduled Castes sub-plan and Scheduled Tribe sub-plan (SCSP/TSP). Of the total budget outlay of Rs 26,005.01 crore for the sub-plan, Rs 18,331.54 crore has been allocated for the development of Scheduled Castes and Rs 7,673.47 crore for Scheduled Tribes.