Excise Minister reveals achievements of excise department

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, October 26: M. P. Renukacharya, the state excise minister, said on Oct 26, Tuesday that the excise department plans to eradicate all illicit liquor distilling centres in the state. He was addressing reporters at the office of the excise deputy commissioner in Mangalore.

 

Disclosing that the excise department has already identified 541 large and mid-sized illicit liquor distilling units all over the state, he said that the department has successfully removed 219 of them. He also revealed that the department is targeting the large and mid-sized units at present and plans to focus on the small-sized units soon. 

 

 

 

 

Increased Excise Revenue

Renukacharya also revealed that the excise revenue has increased considerably owing to the efforts of the excise department. At the end of September, the excise revenue was Rs. 4,078 crore, around Rs 596 crore more than the revenue collected at that time last year, he said. The department has a revenue target of Rs. 7,500 crore for this FY, he added.

The minister revealed that the excise department has received a total of Rs 4,99,59,220 tax on beer, Rs. 46,34,13,960 additional tax on beer, Rs. 24,48,46,388 on liquor, Rs 46,53,32,740 additional tax on liquor, Rs 43,30,44,500 as fines, Rs 6,45,31,910 as additional fines, other income worth Rs 1,26,41,870; and a total Rs 1,73,37,70,589 as taxes have been received by the government. The excise department has received Rs 31,73,18,798  more than what it received last year, he revealed.

Warning liquor vendors that the government will confiscate assets of liquor vendors who fail to pay their dues by the end of this month, he urged liquor vendors to hurry up and pay their dues.

Mangalore Division

In the Mangalore division, the excise department has identified 256 small, 145 mid-sized, and 59 large illicit liquor centres of which 277 have been successfully eliminated. The other liquor centres are being raided continuously in order to discourage operations and strict action has been taken against their owners.

A total of 5787 raid operations were carried out from April 2010 – September 2010, 588 cases have been registered, and 175 arrests have been made to discourage illicit liquor centres. A total of 4000000 litre Goa liquor, 397000 litre beer, 429000 fenny, 314000 litres illicit liquor, 1250000 spirit, 20kgs jaggery, and 153kgs of ganja has been confiscated in April 2010 – September 2010.

A tipper, 2 Tata Boleros, 1 Sumo, 4 mini lorries, 1 car, 1 Scorpio, 1 auto rickshaw, and 11 two-wheelers, making a total of 19 vehicles, have been seized in the Mangalore division within the above-mentioned time frame, he said. Pointing out the fact that the confiscated vehicles are left out in the sun and rain, he urged the concerned departments to deal with the vehicles in a way to avoid loss to the government. He also said that he might meet the transport minister to discuss this issue.

Disclosing that the excise department has identified certain people who are running liquor businesses under false names, he said that action will be taken against such people. He also said that the department will conduct special meetings in 916 Gram Panchayaths in DK with the help of women’s associations and self-help groups to deal with the problem of illicit liquor production.

Speaking about the achievements of the Mangalore division, he said that 30,26,852 crates of liquor were sold from April 2010 – September 2010. Compared to the 2,63,384 crates that were sold last year, this was a remarkable growth in sales, he observed.