The Uttar Pradesh Excise Department has registered a record revenue growth at the beginning of the 2026-27 financial year.
In April 2026, the department generated ₹5,251 crore in revenue, compared to ₹4,319.46 crore in April 2025. This marks a substantial increase of ₹931.54 crore in April alone compared to the same period last year.
UP Excise Minister Nitin Agarwal said here on Thursday that this increase is a direct result of a transparent system, digital monitoring, and strict administrative reforms implemented to prevent revenue leakage without encouraging liquor sales.
Excise revenue figures in Uttar Pradesh have steadily scaled new heights over the past few years. In 2011-12, the state generated a revenue of ₹8,139 crore, which increased to ₹14,273 crore by 2016-17. However, during that period, target achievement percentages were on a steady decline, shrinking to just 74.15 per cent. This trend clearly indicated that the existing system faced serious challenges of revenue leakage, illegal trade, and oversight, the minister pointed out.
After the formation of the Yogi Adityanath government in 2017, major technical and administrative reforms were implemented in the Excise Department. Steps such as e-tendering in the licensing process, digital tracking of the supply chain, a track and trace system, barcode-based monitoring, online monitoring, and ensuring accountability at the district level were implemented. Continuous campaigns were also launched against the illicit liquor trade and smuggling.
The impact of these reforms was soon reflected in revenue figures. In 2018-19, for the first time, the department exceeded its target by 104.03 per cent, achieving revenue of ₹23,928 crore. Revenue collections have steadily increased thereafter, reaching ₹36,321 crore in 2021-22, ₹41,252 crore in 2022-23, ₹52,573 crore in 2024-25, and a record ₹57,722 crore in 2025-26. This means that excise revenue has nearly quadrupled compared to 2016-17.
According to the minister, this growth is the result of a “system reform model,” which emphasises preventing revenue leakages, increasing transparency, and strengthening digital governance, rather than simply increasing liquor sales. While previously, most processes were manual and involved significant human intervention, the system is now digitally platform-based. This has significantly reduced corruption, irregularities, and revenue loss.
Experts believe that Uttar Pradesh’s excise model is no longer limited to revenue collection; it has emerged as an example of data-driven monitoring, financial discipline, and transparent administration. Preliminary figures for 2026-27 indicate that if this pace continues, Uttar Pradesh could set new excise revenue records in the coming years.