Cow cess of Rs 10 per bottle to be imposed on sale of liquor, says Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

In a bid to boost revenue, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to impose a cow cess of Rs 10 per bottle on the sale of liquor, news agency PTI reported.

This would help in fetching revenue of Rs 100 crore per annum, said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while presenting the annual budget for the financial year 2023-24 in the state assembly.

Some states like Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh levy a ‘Cow Cess’ or ‘Cow Welfare Cess’ to make a fund so that they can take care of stray animals. The cess rate differs from state to state and it ranges from 2 per cent to 20 per cent.

The cow cess is mostly levied on luxury goods and services, like liquor bottles, cars, and bikes, among others and it is used to protect cows, care for stray animals, and fund gau shalas.

CM Sukhu also announced a subsidy of Rs 25,000 on the buying of electric scooty to 20,000 girls studying in state govt schools. The government will also give 40,000 desks to all government schools.

Casualty wards in all medical colleges will be upgraded to the emergency medicine department and all the five medical colleges will have robotic technology, he said. 

The chief minister announced that Himachal Pradesh will be made the model state for adopting electrical vehicles in the state's public transport.

A total of 1,500 diesel buses will be replaced at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore, he said.

In order to boost tourism, Sikhu said that Kangra district will be developed as the tourist capital and all 12 districts will be connected with heliport facilities in the next one year.

Meanwhile, Himachal Vidhan Sabha adopted with amendments a bill to levy water cess on 172 hydropower projects in the state and projects coming in future.

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