Liquor to cost more in Maharashtra as cabinet approves hike in excise duty

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The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on Tuesday approved a significant hike in excise duties on liquor and introduced sweeping reforms to tighten control and boost tax revenues — moves expected to generate an additional Rs 14,000 crore annually.

Under the new rates approved by the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet, the excise duty on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) will increase from three times to 4.5 times the declared manufacturing cost (up to Rs 260 per bulk litre). Country liquor duty will rise from Rs 180 to Rs 205 per proof litre.

Revised minimum retail prices for 180 ml bottles have also been notified:

• Country liquor: Rs 80
• Maharashtra Made Liquor (MML): Rs 148
• IMFL: Rs 205
• Premium foreign liquor: Rss 360

The decisions follow a high-level study of best practices from other states, covering excise duty structures, licensing, and tax collection, the release said.

The cabinet also cleared major restructuring of the State Excise Department:

An AI-based integrated control cell will be set up to monitor distilleries, bottling plants and wholesale licensees.

A new divisional office in Mumbai will be created along with six additional superintendent-level offices across Mumbai city, Mumbai suburbs, Thane, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Ahilyanagar.

Additionally, FL-2 and FL-3 licences — for retail sealed-bottle sales and on-premises consumption respectively — can now be operated via conducting agreements with an additional 15% (FL-2) and 10% (FL-3) annual licence fee.

To strengthen the department’s capacity, the cabinet approved the creation of 1,223 new posts — including 744 regular and 479 supervisory positions.

The CMO said the package of reforms aims to modernise excise administration and improve transparency while providing a substantial boost to state revenues.

(With inputs from PTI)