Old notes boost excise dept revenue

JAIPU: r The state excise department has seen robust sales in the last month, registering a revenue growth of 20.37% .

In October, the excise department earned ₹216.77 crore, which in November increased to ₹260.93 crores – a growth of 20.37%.

A senior excise department official on anonymity said the liquor purchase shoot up to 116% between November 9 and 15, compared to the same period last year, as the old currency was accepted till then. “The impact of demonetization will be felt in December after the wedding season gets over,” he said.

In the month of November, 84.59 lakh bulk liters (BL) of Indian-made liquor and 141.31 lakh BL of beer were sold. In October, however, the figures were 66.96 lakh BL and 132.56 lakh BL.

Jaipur zone generated the maximum revenue of ₹ 75.07 crores; followed by Jodhpur zone ₹54.15 crore; Udaipur zone ₹44.90; Ajmer zone ₹31.48 crore; Bikaner zone ₹ 21.41 crore; Kota zone ₹17.72 crore and Bharatpur zone ₹16.20 crore.

Excise commissioner OP Yadav said growth (revenue and sale of liquor) cannot be predicted looking at figures only in November. Liquor shop owner or retailers have deposited money in advance – this cannot be actual assessment after demonetization.

A clear picture could be seen in December with new currency in market.