Well, the budget of new govt. has been
announced and thankfully there are no major changes and as regards
alcoholic beverages, No Changes.
There is a general Education Cess of 2%
on all imports including alcoholic beverages.
Maharashtra Govt. has announced
major changes in wine policies. For all wineries established after Sept
2001 in Maharashtra, the excise duty has been reduced to Zero. A major
relaxation. The Govt. is focusing very well on wine development.
The sales tax which is at present
20% on all alcoholic beverages including wines as per the
recommendations of Standing Committee of all States on Sales Tax
matters. However the Maharashtra Govt. is planning to bring wine
under food portfolio and thus reduce the sales tax from 20% to 4%. This
again is a major shift in Govt. policy by classifying wine as part of
food.
These measures show that the
Maharashtra Govt. is highly focused on development of wine culture,
trade and production.
