Guwahati: The Assam Excise Department has introduced a major change in the state’s liquor trade by issuing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the implementation of the Minimum Guaranteed Revenue (MGR) system under the Assam Excise Rules, 2026. The directive, issued by the Commissioner of Excise to all District Commissioners, effectively places wholesale warehouses, IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) retailers, country spirit retailers and company-operated wholesale units under mandatory revenue collection targets across Assam.
According to the official communication, every liquor licence holder will now be required to achieve a pre-determined Minimum Guaranteed Revenue figure, while district authorities have been instructed to ensure strict implementation and compliance. Detailed annexures attached to the order reportedly specify MGR targets for hundreds of wholesale and retail licence holders across different districts of Assam, making the system one of the most extensive revenue-linked excise measures introduced in the state in recent years.
The Assam government is expected to defend the move as an effort to streamline excise administration, improve monitoring and ensure predictable excise revenue collections under the new Assam Excise Rules, 2026. However, the policy has triggered debate among former officials and policy observers, who argue that the institutionalisation of guaranteed revenue targets could shift the focus of excise administration away from public health protection, responsible alcohol regulation and consumption control toward meeting fixed government revenue expectations.
Critics contend that once mandatory MGR targets become embedded in the excise system, pressure to meet those targets may gradually cascade through the administrative hierarchy. Former bureaucrats have warned that if revenue collections begin to fall short, accountability pressures could move from the state secretariat to district administrations, from district offices to excise enforcement staff, and ultimately to liquor licence holders themselves.
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The new SOP has therefore brought into focus a broader policy question confronting Assam’s excise administration: Should the excise department function primarily as a regulatory authority responsible for controlling alcohol trade in the public interest, or as a mechanism designed to guarantee stable and predictable government revenue from liquor sales? The implementation of the Minimum Guaranteed Revenue system under the Assam Excise Rules, 2026 is likely to remain closely watched by liquor traders, excise officials and public policy experts as its practical impact on the state’s alcohol industry and revenue administration becomes clearer
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