Chhattisgarh’s new excise policy eliminates middlemen and increases transparency

Rajpur: The new excise policy declared by the Vishnu Deo Sai government has abolished the licensing system, leading to the elimination of the role of middlemen in the liquor trade in Chhattisgarh.

The state cabinet, which met here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, gave its nod to the new excise policy, a press release by the state government said on Friday.

“The new excise tax policy is a bold step by the Prime Minister, which is intended to ensure a transparent and effective alcohol business in the country. This demonstrates his commitment to curbing corruption and ensuring transparency in the alcohol industry,” an official spokesman said.

Under the new excise policy, the government agency will directly source alcohol from producers to sell it to consumers, putting an end to the role of intermediaries in the trade, the spokesman said.

The absence of the role of intermediaries in the alcohol trade will also facilitate consumers’ access to a wide range of alcohol brands, he added.

“Because the government agency will purchase and deliver alcohol directly from producers, consumers will not be limited to purchasing alcohol according to license holders’ preferences,” the press release said.

At the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sai said that the previous system had large-scale irregularities causing huge financial losses to the state and emphasized on the clean and transparent business environment.

“By taking control of the distribution process, we want to streamline operations, reduce costs for producers and increase consumer satisfaction,” he added.

The decision was taken following widespread complaints of corruption, false and illegal sale of alcohol and revenue losses running into billions of rupees under the previous government, an official press release said.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said that money was illegally withdrawn from every bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh and that corruption and money laundering to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore generated by the liquor syndicate was detected.

The SED, which was probing the liquor scam that took place during the previous Congress government in the state, recently filed a chargesheet in the PMLA court.

Retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja, businessman Anwar Dhebar, who is the brother of the mayor of Congress Raipur Municipal Corporation, and a senior official in the excise department have been described as the alleged masterminds of the scam.