Mayawati’s 'liquor tax' is estimated to be Rs 1350 Crore p.a.

Media News

Mumbai, October 05, 2009

A NewsX special investigation makes one of the most stunning revelations about ‘illegal tax’ in the country. In an undercover investigation, the liquor vends and salesmen in the state confess to the NewsX team that the Chief Minister and her associates are collecting ‘illegal tax’ on liquor bottles sold from the shops in Uttar Pradesh.

While the Chief Minister Mayawati has been in the news for ‘collections’ for birthday celebrations, using government machinery to collect political funds, this is the first ever expose on her running a parallel tax regime.

Mayawati’s 'liquor tax' is estimated to be Rs 1350 Crore p.a.

Termed as ‘Mayawati Tax’ by the salesmen, a ‘tax’ of Rs 5 to Rs 15 per bottle is levied on both country liquor and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the state. With six Crore bottles of IMFL sold annually along with an estimated sale of six and a half Crore litres of country liquor in the state, the ‘tax’ collected is expected to be in the region of Rs 1350 Crore per annum.

NewsX team speaks to the liquor trade and the salesmen to bring forth the nexus between an influential liquor baron from the state and Mayawati’s associates. Senior opposition leaders in UP also echo the view of the trade. Says Amar Singh of Samajwadi Party, "Yes, it is absolutely correct. The same liquor mafia approached me when we were in power. But we didn’t succumb to the pressure."

While the ‘Mayawati Tax’ is an open secret, the state Excise Minister refuses to comment on the issue and the Excise officials refuse to come on camera.

As NewsX brings the state of anarchy in the State of UP to fore, stay tuned from 6 PM tonight to watch the stories on ‘illegal liquor tax’. Also join in for the special at 9:30 PM tonight.

For further information, please contact:

Vitcom Consulting

Shruti Bachani

Mobile: +91-9004089431

Email: shruti.bachani@vitcomconsulting.com

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