Lucknow, Feb 18 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Excise minister Nitin Agrawal on Tuesday claimed that unlike Delhi, where liquor scam had taken place, “not even a drop of corruption” has taken place in the Excise department since Adityanath-led BJP government came to power.
Aam Aadmi Party supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal made the excise policy as per the liquor mafia to fund the party’s election campaign in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, he said.
Speaking to PTI, Agrawal on Tuesday said, “I have been in this department for the last three years. Since the time I have got the charge of this department, it is being run with full transparency under the leadership of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.” “The excise policy in UP was framed with full transparency, and everyone has been given a level playing field. In the previous governments, the policies were made as per the cartels. We have ended 95 per cent of the cartels in the state,” the minister said.
“Not a drop of corruption has taken place in the Excise department during our government tenure since 2017,” he claimed.
Under Adityanath’s leadership, we have completely dismantled the cartel of liquor mafia, he said.
Agarwal attributed the BJP’s recent electoral win in the Delhi assembly polls to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah’s strategy.
Sharpening his attack on Kejriwal, Agrawal, who is the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Excise and Prohibition in UP, said, “It was not expected from Kejriwal and his party that after the formation of their government, they will virtually hand over the department to the liquor mafia, or the changes in the policy will be made to suit those mafia.” “You must have seen that to strengthen some cartels, the previous Delhi government made the excise policy… and those people were given a free hand to sell any of their brands at any price, which was completely wrong, and no government can do this,” Agrawal said.
Kejriwal made the excise policy of Delhi as per the liquor mafia to fund the AAP’s election campaign in the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, Agrawal alleged.
When asked to comment on the revenue earned by the department, the UP minister said, “When I got the department, the revenue of the excise department was Rs 36,000 crore in Financial Year 2021-2022.” “In the Financial Year 2022-2023 our revenue increased to Rs 41,600 crore. Then in the next financial year, the revenue increased to Rs 45,500 crore. I am expecting a revenue of Rs 51,000 crore in the financial year 2024-2025. For the next financial year (2025-2026), the revenue of the excise department is likely to be between Rs 58,000 crore and Rs 60,000 crore,” he said.
“We are growing at 11 per cent to 12 per cent year-on-year basis in terms of excise revenue,” he said. PTI NAV NB NB
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