MUMBAI: Shiv Sena (UBT) has criticised the state excise department’s proposal to issue new liquor licences to generate revenue to meet the state’s expenditure. Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said govt plans to make brothers and husbands drunk to give Rs 1,500 to “ladki bahin (beloved sisters)”.
“They are going to sell liquor to their beloved sisters’ brothers and husbands to give them Rs 1,500. If they plan to sell liquor to the entire state of Maharashtra for giving just Rs 1,500, then this is very serious. I heard they will increase the number of liquor shops and reduce ‘dry days’. After that, a proposal has been made to sell liquor from grocery shops and malls.,” Raut said.
At a review meeting by finance and state excise minister Ajit Pawar, excise department officials reportedly suggested the plan for issuing new liquor licences in the state and allowing wine to be sold in shops and departmental stores, among other measures, to increase revenue through state excise duty. However, Pawar has not accepted the proposal so far, officials said.
Officials said the state excise department has around 1,700 licences for foreign liquor and 3,500 for country liquor. All these were issued in 1972. “Since no new liquor licences are issued, old licences are transferred, the going rate is in the range of Rs 10-15 crore. But the state govt gets only Rs 1 crore as transfer fees. More revenue can be generated only if new licences are issued and wine sales liberalised. The liquor licences regime was relaxed in UP. It helped in generating revenue and curbed black marketing,” said an official.
Before the elections, Mahayuti govt came under criticism for massive pre-election sops costing Rs 96,000 crore announced in the budget, including the Ladki Bahin scheme. Expenditure on this scheme itself is slated at Rs 46,000 crore per year. The state was also on a spree of clearing land allotments, subsidies and guarantees in the run-up to the polls. The finance department has already warned govt’s fiscal deficit could be as high as Rs 2 lakh crore for 2024-25 and it has crossed 3% of the state’s GSDP. This is the norm set by Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budgetary Management Act.
Just before polls, the state cabinet cleared financial assistance to major infrastructure projects like the Thane-Borivli tunnel and Orange Gate-Marine Drive tunnel. Earlier this week, it overruled concerns raised by the finance department about the state’s financial condition. The finance department said the state could not take on additional liability as its fiscal deficit doubled to nearly Rs 2 lakh crore for 2024-25.