Excise department earned nearly Rs 1,700 crore in excise duty and value added tax

According to official figures, the Delhi government’s Excise department earned approximately Rs 1,700 crore in excise duty and value added tax in the first quarter of 2023-24. The department earned Rs 6,821 crore in the fiscal year 2022-23 by selling over 62 crore bottles of spirits. The total includes excise duty of Rs 5,548.48 crore and value added tax of Rs 1,272.52 crore.

The Excise Department anticipates that revenue will increase in the coming months as additional booze stores open. “During the summer months, customers prefer beer. It has a lower excise duty, which is why revenue collection in the first half of the fiscal year is always significantly lower than in the second half of the fiscal year, when whisky sells more,” stated an official.

The national capital’s 574 liquor shops are operated by the city government’s Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation, Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation, and Delhi Consumers’ Cooperative Wholesale Stores, while more than 930 hotels, clubs, and restaurants serve liquor.

In its budget for 2023-24, the Delhi government estimates a total excise collection of Rs 7,365 crore, or approximately 14% of its total tax revenue of Rs 53,565 crore.