With festive season yet to come Bengal's excise collection has already crossed 40% of target

With the festive seasons of Durga Puja, Kali Puja and Diwali yet to arrive, West Bengal state excise collection has already crossed 40 per cent of the targeted collection under this head as per the budget estimates for the current financial year 2023-24. Sources from the state finance department said that the collection under this head till the beginning of October has almost touched Rs 7,000 crore, which is a little over the targeted state excise collection of Rs 17,921.56 crore as per the budget estimates for 2023-24. “The next four months are expected to be the boom period in the matter considering the prolonged festival seasons starting with Durga Puja followed by Kali Puja, Diwali and finally Christmas and New Year celebrations. So if the flow continues, it can be confidently said that the targeted collection under this head will well surpass the projected in the budget estimates by the end of the current financial year,” said a senior officer of the state finance department.

As per the budget estimates for the financial year of 2023-24, the state excise collection is slated to rise to Rs 17,921.56 crore, up by 19.41 per cent from the figure of Rs 15,001.39 crore as per the revised estimates for the financial year of 2022-23. Whereas, the total state's own tax revenue as per the budget estimates for 2023-24 is slated to increase by just 12.69 per cent to Rs 88,595.54 crore from the figure of Rs 79,5000 crore as per the revised estimates for 2022-23.

Another significant factor on this count is that in 2023-24, state excise, which is just one of the 12 components state's own tax revenue, will contribute 20.22 per cent of the total tax kitty. According to a recent finding, West Bengal is one of the four Indian states where election contributes to over 20 per cent state's own tax revenue.

While the state government has reasons to cheer about the skyrocketing excise collection, economists feel that such “excise-driven finance” is not a very healthy sign for the state's general economy.