Bihar govt announces new excise policy

Patna, Jun 29: The Bihar government has announced drastic change in excise policy to augment the revenue from Rs 385 crores to Rs 700 crore during the current financial year.

State Excise Minister Sudha Srivastav told mediapersons here that the new excise policy would enhance the revenue from the sale of liquor as well as eliminate the illicit liquor trade.People would no more be required to go to bootleggers for their demand of liquor as its availability would be increased through network of licensed shops across the state, she added.

''In order to divert the consumers from hard drinks to low alcohal drinks, excise duty on such liquors would be reduced while the Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) would be kept under reasonable limit,'' she said.

Deviating from earlier practice, the license for retail liquor shops would be awarded through lottery system, she added.

UNI