Delhi govt earns over Rs 5,000 crore from liquor taxes, just Rs 210 crore from milk products!
PTC Web Desk: The Delhi Government has informed the Assembly that it collected Rs 5,068.92 crore in revenue from excise duty and VAT on liquor sales in the financial year 2024-25, while GST earnings from milk and dairy products stood at just Rs 209.9 crore. The figures, which are valid until February, were disclosed in response to a question posed by BJP MLA Abhay Verma.
The revelation comes amid the BJP’s continued criticism of the AAP over the alleged liquor policy scam, which led to the arrests of former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. The controversy is believed to have significantly contributed to AAP’s loss in the recent Delhi Assembly elections.
According to government data, tax collection from alcohol has remained consistently high in the past few years:
Rs 5,164 crore in 2023-24
Rs 5,547 crore in 2022-23
Rs 5,487 crore in 2021-22
Under the new liquor policy introduced by AAP from November 2021 to August 2022, private liquor vendors were given exclusive rights to sell alcohol. However, the old policy was reinstated in September 2022, allowing government liquor stores to operate again. AAP had defended its liquor policy, citing benefits such as curbing black marketing and boosting government revenue. However, the Delhi Chief Secretary had later flagged alleged irregularities in its implementation.
In 2023-24, Delhi recorded alcohol sales of 21.27 crore litres, averaging 5.82 lakh litre per day. In comparison, 25.84 crore litre were sold in 2022-23.
While liquor tax revenues continue to rise, GST collection from milk and milk products has been on a downward trend:
Rs 210 crore in 2024-25 (till February)
Rs 300 crore in 2023-24
Rs 365 crore in 2022-23
- With inputs from agencies
