Excise department eyes revenue of Rs 1800 crore this fiscal: Secretary

Ranchi: The excise and prohibition department has set a target to earn revenue worth Rs 1800 in the ongoing fiscal and as part of the goal till July it has managed to earn Rs 801 crore which was three times more the amount which it had managed in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Addressing a press conference at the Suchana Bhawan here Secretary of the Excise and Prohibition Department Rahul Sharma said that the department was confident of meeting its target. He said that in the year 2017-18 the revenue collection was Rs 847.24 crore which in 2018- 19 increased to Rs 1082.81 crore which shows an overall increase of about 28 percent.

He said for the first time in the year 2019-20 the department allocated the shops through e-lottery in a transparent manner which is completely online. He said that so far in two phases the applications have been accepted while in the first phase 5762 applications were received in the second phase 957 applications came. He said that so far 1634 shops have been sanctioned.

Mr Sharma said that after the new rules for country-made liquor came into place any eligible person can apply for manufacturing the pet/ glass bottle for filling up the country liquor which can be supplied to the JSBCL depot as selling on liquor in plastic pouches has been ended. He said that now letter of intent is being provided to set up new plants so that supply improves and also new job opportunities are created.

He said that any type of advertisement to increase liquor sale is banned and through puppet shows people are being encouraged to give up liquor consumption. He said that to do away with irregularities done by shop keepers toll-free number has been also issued. Mr Sharma said that to further bring transparency in the trade track and trace technology has been planned to be implemented. The Secretary said that till July 2019 3984 cases of the illegal liquor trade surfaced in which 192 accused have been sent to jail.