Insta
The Gandhi status in front of Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad. (fraboof via Wikimedia Commons)
Higher liquor prices, along with higher fuel prices and increased tax collections have brought major relief to the Telangana government’s finances, which were reeling severely under the impact of the outgo on farmers’ schemes, reports Hans India.
The two schemes, Rythu Bandhu and the Farmers Insurance Scheme, had burdened the state exchequer by Rs 14,000 crore. Officials said that increased beer prices as well higher fuel prices helped fill the coffers. The total revenue generated from liquor sales was Rs 1,938 crore as against Rs 1,524 crore earned in May last year. More than Rs 400 crore was generated from beer sales alone.
A senior official of state’s Commercial Taxes department was quoted as saying that the growth in revenues from liquor sales is phenomenal in May this year, and that the government expects the same trend to continue in the coming months also.
A story that appeared in Firstpost in July last year, had shown the increasing reliance of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on “booze money” to generate revenue – in total disregard to their stand on prohibition in the earlier years. How to fund populist welfare schemes was an issue, and liquor provided easy answers.
A minister had in fact, hailed beer as a “health drink”, the article was quoted as saying. The excise minister had gone so far as to defend the government decision to promote more distilleries saying, “We have to spend over Rs 50,000 crore on irrigation; where do we get the resources?”
The government is reportedly pulling out all stops to increase alcohol consumption, by increasing sale hours, by increasing the number of bars and outlets, and so on. Activists are said to be upset over this desire of the state for liquor income.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest