'Alcohol in Puducherry will still be cheaper': UT levies 20% special excise duty on liquor

PUDUCHERRY: Liquor will cost more in Puducherry with the UT government levying the special excise duty of 20% on alcohol from July 15. However, the liquor in the UT will still remain cheaper than that of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and other states.

According to the excise department notification issued by Deputy Commissioner T Sudhakar on Wednesday, the government has levied special excise duty at the rate of 20% on MRP uniformly on all brands in Puducherry with effect from July 15, 2021. It will be applicable to Indian-made foreign liquor or imported liquor sold in the UT.

The Special Excise duty (SED), popularly known as corona tax, was levied in May this year to make the prices of liquor equivalent to that of the adjoining states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka for arresting the spread of Covid in all the four regions of the UT. After a year, the excise department withdrew it in April 2021 making liquor cheaper again.

However, after three months SED has been levied again, this time to garner revenue. This time, the SED is uniform and the decision was made to boost the revenue generation, said Sudhakar. The prices of liquor will still remain cheaper than the neighbouring states and will not affect tourism,  he said.

Around 920 brands of liquor are being sold in Puducherry of which 154 brands are being sold both in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. “We expect to mobilise an additional revenue of around Rs 250 crores to Rs 300 crores from July to March,” he said. At present, a revenue of around Rs 60 crores per month is generated from the excise in the current scenario.

By levying SED last year, the government earned around Rs 750 crore excise revenue but due to the Covid restrictions, it fell short of the budgeted Rs 850 crores.