Himachal government would be probing into the possibilities to formulate its own Excise Policy in order to meet the various requirements based upon the different geophysical conditions prevalent in the state. Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Chief Minister while reviewing the functioning, targets and achievements of the Excise and Taxation Department said that the state had been implementing the Punjab Excise Act of 1914 which had become redundant with a number of amendments carried out from time to time and keeping in view the requirements of the present day.
He further said that the Excise and Taxation Department had targeted to generate revenue to the tune of 1,976 crores for the current financial year of 2008-09 out of which 464.07 crores had already been collected and was 23.5 percent of the achievement while it had generated a revenue of 1675 crores against the target of 1,662 crores exceeding the target by one percent. He further said that the majority of commodities of common use by every section of the society had been kept out of tax purview which included fruits, vegetables, newspapers, school stationary, public distribution system items for BPL, Antyodaya Anna Yojna, Annapurna Yojna, agriculture, horticulture produce, handloom produce, fertilizers, milk and milk products etc. The ‘Grahak Protsahan Yojna-2008’ would be launched in the state from August this year whereby lottery system would be adopted to take out the draw of attractive prizes regularly to be awarded to the customers, he added.
