In a significant move the government has slashed excise duty on imported scotch whiskey by 50 per cent to bring its price on par with that in other states, a senior official said here on Friday.
The excise duty on imported scotch whiskey has been brought down from 300 per cent to 150 per cent of the manufacturing cost.
The notification in this regard was issued on Thursday, she said. The Maharashtra government earns revenue of about Rs 100 crore from the sale of imported scotch annually.
The revenue is expected to increase to Rs 250 crore as the sale is expected to go up from one lakh bottles to 2.5 lakh bottles, the official said.
“We have reduced taxes from 300% to 150%. Now, the call on reduction in prices is to be taken by the liquor companies that are expected to do so Monday onwards.” said a senior state government official.
According to excise department officials during the three financial years starting 2016-17 till 2018-19, the excise revenue from imported spirits was around Rs 200 crore.
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