SHILLONG:
The price of liquor is set to soar in the state after the cabinet approved re-classification of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands to increase the revenue of the state.
Post chairing a cabinet meeting on May 25, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said that the government has decided that there will be re-classification of categories of brands for IMFL through amendments of advolerem, MVAT on liquor and Rule 44 (10) of the Meghalaya Bonded Warehouse Rules etc.
Elaborating on how much revenue the state plans to earn with this move, the chief minister said, “We will earn approximately Rs 25 crore plus additional revenue with the implementation of today’s decision.”
Sangma also said that depending on the brand, there will be a increase of 3 to 4 per cent, going up to about 8 to 9 per cent, adding that most of the brands will come under the purview of this move.
Citing the change in liquor prices in the neighbouring states in the past few months, the chief minister added that in the interest of ensuring that the state gets more revenue, the government has re-classified the brands and also increased the price on “some of them”.