In what comes as a good news for beer lovers, in Rajasthan, the state excise policy for 2021-22 declared on Saturday, that beer shall be available at a cheaper rate from April 1 onwards. The new excise policy announced reduction in additional excise duty and MRP on beer, which will bring down its price by Rs 30-35. Also, there will be no more Covid surcharge on all excise items, except Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and bottled-in-origin (BIO) or imported liquor. Further, there will be no special vend fees on IMFL and beer. In the latest change in the excise policy, it has been decided that the shops will be auctioned online instead of the prevailing lottery system.
Officials said that the state government has taken this decision to stop the smuggling of liquor from neighbouring states, including Delhi and Haryana, and to put a check on the liquor mafia.As per the new system, a person shall not be allotted more than five shops in the state and not more than two shops in a district. The number of liquor shops, however, will remain the same. At present, there are 7,665 liquor shops in the state, including country liquor shops. The government has set a target of earning Rs 13,000 crore revenues from excise duty in the next financial year. Bar licence holders will now be able to set up a mini plant or micro brewery to make fresh beer, said the order, adding that the licence fee for the year 2021-22 has been reduced by 10 per cent, keeping the hotel and restaurant bar licence fees intact.