Chandigarh, May 5 (IANS): Liquor will be costlier in Haryana too as the state Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, on Tuesday decided to impose a Covid-19 cess on all brands, including country made.

The Cabinet approved certain changes in the excise policy for 2020-21. That were necessitated due to outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, an official statement said.

It was decided that the policy of will come into force with effect from May 6 and remain effective till May 19 next year.

The amendments have been carried out with an objective to safeguard the government revenue and to mitigate the impact of outbreak of pandemic on the operation of the licenses.

The Covid cess will be Rs 5 per quart in case of country liquor, Rs 20 per quart in case of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), Rs 5 in case of strong beer and Rs 2 in case of other beer and Rs 50 per pack greater than 375 ML in case of Imported Foreign Liquor (IFL).

To begin with the timings of the operation of liquor retail vends will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. both in urban and rural areas.