Madhya Pradesh mulls over tax on liquor to revive state revenue

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday indicated to impose corona tax on sale of liquor in the state to mop up additional revenues for the state.

Chouhan said he would soon convene a meeting of offices concerned to finalise the amount of the tax to be imposed on sale of liquor in the state.

He was addressing a high level meeting here to revive industries in the state post-lockdown period.

The resource-starved MP government has suffered loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 1800 crore following the nationwide lockdown clamped in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, on March 24.

The state government was currently struggling to mobilise revenues to fight the pandemic which claimed lives of 209 people in the state so far.

States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have already imposed tax on sale of liquor in their respective states.

Sources said the state government was mulling to introduce tax on sale of liquor to make up the loss of revenues suffered by the state due to the lockdown.

Interestingly, the liquor contractors in the state have recently moved the MP high court demanding waiver of excise duty by the state government on sale of liquor to compensate losses suffered by them due to suspension of their business during the lockdown period.

They had earlier refused to open their shops unless their demands were met by the state government.

However, they resumed their business on May five after being assured by the state government to consider their demands as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh has reported fresh 74 coronavirus positive cases taking the tally of confirmed cases to 3415.

Death toll due to the deadly virus rose to 209 in the state on Saturday.