‘Small duty cut on premium liquor will not boost sales’

Panaji: The Goa Liquor Traders’ Association (GLTA) on Sunday said that the reduction in the excise duty on high-end foreign liquor will not benefit the state as well as liquor traders as the rates are comparatively lesser in Delhi, Gurgaon and Haryana. The association also feared that the increase in the duty on other categories of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) would put the entire industry in trouble.

The state government on Saturday reduced excise duty up to Rs 1,200 per bottle of high-end foreign liquor and hiked cost by Rs 10 to Rs 30 of other categories of IMFL.

Reacting to the new excise duty on high-end foreign liquor, GLTA president Dattaprasad Naik said that foreign liquor brands which have a price tag of Rs 21,000 in Goa, are available for Rs 10,000 in north India. “Reduction of Rs 1,200 per bottle will ultimately not increase the sale of such liquor in Goa. At least Rs 5,000 should have been reduced per bottle to increase sales,” he said.

Naik said a bottle of a foreign brand which is sold in Goa for Rs 3,500, is available in Delhi and Gurgaon for Rs 2,000. “Reduction of Rs 150 will not serve the purpose,” he said.

The association has suggested that the state government bring all brands with a price tag above Rs 3,500 in one slab and impose a flat excise duty to increase the sale of high-end foreign liquor in the state. “How can nominal reduction in excise duty benefit the state and the industry,” the GLTA president said.

Referring to the increase in the excise duty on IMFL, he said that the state was surviving on the sale of this liquor but with an increase in the duty it will create problems for the traders. “We have already lost high-end foreign liquor consumers and with an increase in duty on IMFL, we may lose the domestic market too,” Naik said.

He said that IMFL consumers are mostly from neighbouring Karnataka and Maharashtra. “We have already lost customers from Maharashtra for high-end foreign liquor as that state has slashed excise duty on the same to 50%," the GLTA president said. "Earlier, a bottle that was being sold in Goa for Rs 1,850 was priced around Rs 3,500 in Maharashtra, but with a reduction in duty, the price has dropped to Rs 1,950 there. The difference is just Rs 100. We only have domestic consumers and an increase in duty will hit them.”