Excise duty on all brands of liquor hiked by 17 percent

Bengaluru: In an attempt to revive the sagging economy of the State which was in distress due to onset of the COVID-19 lockdown, Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa announced a relief package worth over Rs. 1,610 crore. He was addressing a press conference from Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru this morning.  

Notably the Government has hiked additional excise duty on all brands of liquor by 11 percent in addition to the 6 percent that was announced in the Budget. With today’s increase, the total increase in excise duty on liquor stands at a steep 17 percent.

Money from liquor sales has been one of the biggest revenue generators for Karnataka that has helped fund developmental programmes in the State. The Government hopes to rake in an additional Rs. 3,500 crore to Rs. 5,000 crore from liquor sales from the average annual fiscal target of Rs. 20,000 crore to Rs. 23,000 crore.

The CM said that due to the onset of the COVID-19 and consequence of the clamping down of nationwide lockdown, people of all sections in the society had to endure a difficult time, including farmers, labourers, industrialists, service sector and others.

In an attempt to boost the confidence of the working class and the farmers, Yediyurappa said that the State Government would compensate the farmers who had grown flowers, with Rs. 25,000 per hectare, and remit an additional Rs. 3,000 to construction workers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

While promising to announce a separate relief package for the farmers, who had sustained losses due to growing of vegetables, the CM also announced a financial relief of Rs. 5,000 each to over 2,30,000 barbers and 60,000 washermen both in urban and rural areas.

He also announced a one-time financial assistance of Rs. 5,000 each to over 7,75,000 taxi and auto drivers. Stating that the lockdown has brought miseries for the weavers who are already suffering due to slow down of their units, he said that it was decided to waive off Rs. 109 crore loans availed from various financial institutions.

The CM announced a cash compensation of Rs. 2,000 to each of the weavers, in the State and funds would be transferred through DBT. More than 54,000 weavers would get benefit from the scheme “Weaver Samman Yojana.”

Appealing the construction workers not to leave the State, Yediyurappa said that the Government will transfer an additional Rs. 3,000 to each of the workers. The relief package included an incentive for the benefit of the electricity consumers, who had paid their bills.

It was also decided not to levy interest for the delayed payments of electricity consumers, he said. Monthly fixed charges in electricity bills of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises will be waived off for two months. Electricity bills for all consumers will not be cut till June 6 if the bills are not paid.