COVID-19: Meghalaya govt hikes liquor prices by 25 pc to reduce financial burden

Shillong, May 8 () The Meghalaya government has approved a 25 per cent hike in liquor prices to generate additional excise revenue to meet the unexpected financial burden and expenditure arising out of the COVID-19 crisis, officials said on Friday.

The hike in liquor price will generate an additional revenue to the tune of Rs 120-130 crore approximately, they said.

"A hike of 25 per cent on the maximum retail price for liquor has been approved by the government effective from midnight of May 8 in order to generate additional excise revenue to meet the unexpected financial burden/expenditure arising out of the COVID-19 situation," Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said.

"Currently, for the last financial year of 2019-2020 the revenue generated has been Rs 260 crore from Excise apart from VAT on liquor," he said.

Earlier in the day, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said that the state government has collected over Rs 6 crore as revenue from liquor sales after wine shops were allowed to open earlier this week following certain relaxations in the lockdown.

Many states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi have already hiked liquor prices to give boost to their fledging revenue income. JOP RG NSD