Excise Minister Kyrmen Shylla today told the Assembly that the government is not in favour of legalising local rice beer or rice wine, despite making moves last year to grant permission for locally made fruit wines.
Shylla said that the reason for not allowing local brews from fermented rice, along the lines of Japanese sake, is that rice is the staple food of Meghalaya.
The conversation then went slightly off track, with Mawphlang MLA SK Sunn seeking to know why consumption of alcohol should be thought of differently to consumption of rice.
“Rum in the form of liquid is consumption and rice in the form of solid is also meant for consumption – what is the difference here?” Sunn said.
Intervening, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said, “Consumption of rice is a priority because it is a staple diet of the state. Rum consumption is a completely different topic. Alcohol drinking is an individual’s desire whether they want to drink or not – it’s an option. But rice is a staple diet. Therefore comparing the two is defeating the purpose of the question.”
The Chief Minister added that Meghalaya produces around three lakh tonnes of rice but consumption is four lakh tonnes.
Meanwhile, Shylla said that there is only one slab of rate under the Meghalaya Value Added Tax Act 2003 for levy of tax on the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), which is 40 percent with effect from March 15, 2017, with 20 percent concession on rum sold in Central Defence Service Canteens to defence personnel for their own consumption.
He also informed that revenue collection from VAT imposed by the department on sale of IMFL during 2017-18 was Rs 180 crore, which fell in the following year to Rs 160 crore before rebounding to Rs 204.31 crore in 2019-20. In the next financial year, up to January, the state earned Rs 140 crore through VAT on liquor.
