Dept collected Rs 879 cr in past 3 yrs: Excise minister

SHILLONG, Dec 21: The Excise department has collected a total revenue of Rs 879 crore during the past three years. This was informed by the Excise Minister Kyrmen Shylla at the function to lay the foundation stone for the office building of the Commissioner of Excise at Lower Lachumiere here on Tuesday.
Shylla added that department collected Rs 226 crore in 2018-2019, Rs 278 crore in 2019-2020 and Rs 375 crore during 2020-2021.
It may be mentioned that the revenue receipt of the department is mainly by way of excise duty and other fees on the Indian Made Foreign Liquor or IMFL. The revenue is also contributed by way of license fees, fines and excise duty.
According to the minister, at present, 80 per cent of the liquor consumed in the state is produced locally in the bottling plant and breweries located in the state but the certification of the same as fit or unfit for human consumption is done at Chemical Examiner, Guwahati, Assam.
He added that the construction of the laboratory in Shillong will enable the department to conduct all the essential tests in the department itself.
Talking about the upcoming building of the Commissioner of Excise, Shylla said that it will house the Testing Laboratory of the Meghalaya Excise department for proper checking of all the liquor that are produced in the state as well as the ones imported from outside.