Hyderabad: The Telangana state government on Friday increased excise on all brands of liquor and beer by 10 to 25 per cent to garner more revenue for the cash-starved state.
The price hike will come into effect from Saturday and will bring an additional revenue of Rs 300 crore per month to the state government.
Liquor brands, which so far used to come with a price tag ranging between Rs 75 and Rs 85 per full bottle, would now be sold for Rs 90 to Rs 100. Similarly, other liquor brands like Blenders Pride, Royal Challenge, Signature etc, would be costlier by Rs 80 to Rs 120 per bottle.
The price of premium liquor brands would rise by an additional Rs 200 for a full bottle, while all beer brands would be costlier by Rs 10 per bottle.
According to liquor dealers, the government revised the excise duty in such a manner that it only benefits the government.
“Neither the liquor manufacturers, dealers nor consumers will benefit with this price hike. The government has already procured liquor stocks at old rates from manufacturers and now supplying the same to dealers for new rates. These bottles will be sold to consumers for the new price. This way the government would get double benefit,” said D.Venkateshwar Rao, the president of TS Wine Dealers' Association.
