Meghalaya hikes excise rates, eyes Rs 150 crore additional revenue

The Meghalaya government has decided to revise excise duty rates on liquor products, partly to narrow the price gap with neighbouring Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said.

The decision was taken through amendments to the Meghalaya Excise Amendment Rules, 2026 and the Meghalaya Bonded Warehouse Rules, 2026, along with a reclassification of categories of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) brands.

Sangma said the government has also decided to combine the excise duty and value-added tax (VAT) into a single ad valorem levy to streamline revenue collection.

“VAT used to be handled by the taxation department. Now we have taken that VAT from taxation and combined it along with the excise,” the chief minister said.

He explained that if Rs 100 was earlier collected as excise duty and another Rs 100 as VAT, the combined levy would now be Rs 200 as ad valorem.

According to Sangma, the move will ensure that a single department handles the overall revenue collection related to excise.

“We are very hopeful that this will further streamline the overall revenue collection,” he said.

The second major decision involves an increase in excise rates on various liquor products.

Sangma said Assam and Arunachal Pradesh had recently increased their excise duties, resulting in a price gap between liquor products sold in Meghalaya and those in neighbouring states.

“Both Assam as well as Arunachal Pradesh have raised their excise duty on different products and so there is a gap between the prices of products within Meghalaya and Assam, mainly Assam though Arunachal also has done it now,” he said.

The Meghalaya government has therefore decided to raise its rates to reduce the disparity, while also generating additional revenue for the state.

Sangma said the revised rates are expected to generate around Rs 150 crore in additional revenue.

The changes are part of the state government's broader effort to streamline excise administration and strengthen revenue collection.