Bad news for Mumbaikars, Maharashtra government increases excise duty of Alcohol, foreign liquor to cost…, Beer, Wine rate to…

The Maharashtra government is expecting the whopping hike to increase its revenue to Rs 57,000 crore, up Rs 14,000 crore from the Rs 43,620 crore collected in FY 2024-25.

Mumbai: In a major decision, the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government has raised the state excise duty on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) by over 50 percent. The increase in the excise duty will raise the retail prices by over 60 percent. It has also increased the duty on country liquor and imported premium liquor, which will hike their retail prices by 14% and over 25 percent respectively. The excise duty on beer and wine has not been increased.

The Maharashtra government is expecting the whopping hike to increase its revenue to Rs 57,000 crore, up Rs 14,000 crore from the Rs 43,620 crore collected in FY 2024-25. It expects 10 percent of the estimated revenue receipts of Rs 5.60 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26 to come from this.

IMFL will now attract four and a half times excise duty on the manufacturing cost instead of the existing three times. “This will vary based on the manufacturing price but could lead to a huge hike of over 60% in retail prices,” said an excise department official to The Hindustan Times.

The cost of IMFL currently ranges between ₹120 and ₹150 for 180 ml, which will now go up to a minimum of Rs 205. Premium brands will cost a minimum of ₹360 for 180 ml as against their current rate ranging between ₹210 and ₹330. The price of 180-ml bottles of country liquor has gone up to ₹80 from the current price of ₹70.

The government has introduced a new category called Maharashtra-Made Liquor (MML), which will also be exempt from the price hike. These grain-based MML brands will be priced at a minimum of ₹148 for 180 ml — a rate deliberately aligned with the current IMFL pricing to help MML compete in the same market segment.

Beer and wine have been exempted from the excise duty hike. Officials said the retail price of beer, which has a lesser percentage of alcohol compared to hard liquor, is among the highest in the country and was thus exempted.