Delhi: Liquor revenue under old regime in September at Rs 768 crore

NEW DELHI: In the first month of shifting to the old excise regime, the Delhi government has managed to collect Rs768 crore through excise duty, VAT on liquor and licence fees from retail outlets and hotels, clubs and restaurants.
According to officials, the government collected an estimated Rs 460 crore from excise duty and Rs 140 crore from value added tax in the sale of at least 251 lakh liquor bottles in September. The remaining revenue, sources said, came from the grants of licences for six months to hotels, bars and restaurants — Rs 85 crore, retail shops — Rs 26 crore, wholesalers — Rs 44 crore, and the rest from the sale of country liquor.
Sources said at least 400 retail shops were currently running in the city and the excise department had managed to register more than 500 liquor brands. However, several premium brands are still not available in the city. “More than 1,000 brands will be brought into the Delhi market to cater to different strata of the society in the coming days,” said an official.
Though the current regime is totally different from the now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, the government collected Rs 1,485 crore — Rs 495 crore a month — through liquor in the first quarter of 2022-23.
According to officials, the liquor stores have reported an average sale of about 8 lakh bottles per day in September while the private shops sold about 14 lakh bottles a day under the now-withdrawn policy. “September has always been the leanest month in terms of sale of liquor. With the festival season now starting, the sale is expected to pick up,” said an official.
The Delhi government reverted to the old excise regime from September 1 after the 2021-22 policy, rolled out in November 2021 and extended thrice, had to be withdrawn following allegations of corruption in its formulation and implementation. The government has now given the responsibility to run the retail outlets to its four corporations — Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation and Delhi Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Store.