Beer Gets Expensive in Maharashtra as State Imposes Excise Hike

The State Government has imposed a 25 and 35 percent excise hike on beer in Maharashtra, increasing its prices.

There’s some bad news for beer-drinkers in Maharashtra. The State government on Monday decided to increase the excise duty on mild and strong beer by a good 25 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

To this end, the average price of a pint of mild beer will increase by Rs 3 and that of strong beer, by Rs 4.5. Similarly, the price of a full bottle of mild beer will increase by Rs 5 and that of strong beer, by Rs 6.5.

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The exact increase in the price of the different brands of beer, will be known in a day or two.

Beer prices differ from brand to brand. The figures (cited above) are averages based on back-of-the-envelope calculations.

A source told The Times of India. 

The hike in the excise charged on beer will help increase the revenue of the excise department by about Rs 150 crore. Considering that the annual sale of beer is about 33 crore liters, the department can target a revenue of Rs 14,000 crore this financial year.

The hike, interestingly, is not extended to the wine industry in Maharashtra, considering it is concentrated in the Nashik-Northern Maharashtra belt and the state, in turn, is looking to promote the wine brands in question.

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(With inputs from Times of India.)