DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Excise and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday said the state's excise revenue rose from Rs 6,254 crore to Rs 10,200 crore in the past three years even as he slammed the previous governments for their alleged failure in boosting the collections.

Cheema said for the first time in Punjab's history, the excise revenue would surpass the five-digit mark, with the target of Rs 10,145 crore for the financial year 2024-25 likely to be exceeded.

He attributed the rise in the state's excise revenue growth to the success of the excise policy implemented since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) formed the government in Punjab in 2022.

Addressing the media here, Cheema said the success of the tendering process has set the stage for a fourth consecutive year of remarkable growth for the excise department. He said the department received overwhelming response in its ongoing e-tender process for the allotment of retail liquor licences for the 2025-26 fiscal year. He said the department had set a reserve price of Rs 9,017 crore for 207 retail liquor groups.

As of March 20, 179 of these groups, accounting for 87 per cent of the total number, have been successfully allotted, fetching a discovered price of Rs 8,681 crore, along with an additional Rs 871 crore, as premium against the reserved price of Rs 7,810 crore.

Cheema, who is also the state finance minister, expressed confidence in achieving the ambitious target of Rs 11,020 crore for 2025-26.

He said the tremendous response to the e-tendering process suggests that the department is likely to surpass this target, potentially reaching approximately Rs 11,800 crore, which would represent a 16 per cent increase over the previous year's excise revenue.

He criticised the previous governments led by the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress for their "failure" to boost excise revenue.

He said during the Congress regime from 2002 to 2007, excise revenue declined 6.9 per cent, falling from Rs 1,462 crore in 2002 to Rs 1,363 crore in 2007.

He alleged that during the decade-long SAD-BJP rule, the term "mafia" became synonymous with governance, and excise revenue dropped from Rs 4,796 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 4,400 crore in 2016-17 due to the policy designed to benefit "cronies".

He added that the Congress regime from 2017 to 2022 followed a similar trajectory, with excise revenue stagnating for the first three years of the regime and reaching Rs 6,200 crore by 2021-22.

He also recalled the tragic hooch incident during the previous Congress tenure, which claimed the lives of 128 economically disadvantaged people.

Cheema said this growth in excise revenue is a testament to the success of the excise policies that have been instrumental in driving the state's excise revenue to unprecedented heights.

He said the AAP-led Punjab government is committed to increasing the state revenue to ensure its financial stability besides using this revenue for the betterment of every section of society.

(editor@dailyworld.in)