Alcohol, including beer, is set to become more expensive in Bengaluru and the rest of Karnataka. The Congress government in the state has proposed hiking additional excise duty in the 2023-24 budget which was presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Legislative Assembly on Friday.
CM Siddaramaiah holds the Finance portfolio. In the budget, he proposed to increase the existing duty rates on Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by 20 percent on all 18 slabs. Furthermore, he proposed a 10 percent hike in duty on beer, taking the rate from 175 percent to 185 percent.
In his budget speech, CM Siddaramaiah stated that the price of liquor in Karnataka will still be lower than neighbouring states despite the proposed hike in excise rates.
The Karnataka Budget 2023-24 fixes the revenue collection target for the Excise Department at Rs 36,000 crore. This will be achieved through the hikes and effective enforcement and regulatory measures, CM Siddaramaiah added.
(Inputs from PTI)
