Hon. Champika Hettiarachchi

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, before discussing the Order under the Special Commodity Levy Act and the Rules under the Excise Ordinance, as an MP I regret the conduct of the previous speaker. These proceedings are live on various channels. Is that behaviour fitting for a Member? We spoke about onions and potatoes, but most of his speech was about rice and salt. Speaking off-topic and then losing composure is no surprise.

¶ 02 We are also debating today the Excise Rules published by Extraordinary Gazette No. 1846/8 of 20 January 2014. In the past, friends of Presidents were given tax concessions or allowed to evade payments by exploiting provisions. The Deputy Minister said around Rs. 10 billion is due. Among the defaulters is a liquor company owned by those connected to the Central Bank bond scam; Rs. 6.75 billion out of the Rs. 10 billion is due from that company. Those same people may tomorrow try to form a so-called united opposition with such Presidents — this must be said while we discuss taxes.

¶ 03 There are other institutions that evaded large sums — again, with links to those “elephant” friends. The prior MP mentioned a list including such entities. When we formed the Government, we decided to amend the Excise Ordinance. We announced this in the 2025 Budget. This is a 112-year-old law; excise revenue is the third-largest contributor. Cabinet has approved amendments and referred them to Parliament. Taxation is sensitive. Last year, Rs. 225 billion in excise revenue was generated; the Government forecast Rs. 240 billion, and by May, 104% of target was achieved.

¶ 04 Under this Ordinance, duty on liquor produced in the first 15 days must be paid in the next 15 days, and duty on the second half by the 15th of the following month. The law allowed six months to settle; many delayed, causing revenue loss. Previously, the only penalty for non-payment was cancelling the licence. We are strengthening: from 2024 we considered larger deposits; now we reduce the grace period from six to three months, and if unpaid, after one month cancel the bottling licence; after three months, suspend the entire production process. These measures will improve tax collection.

¶ 05 Next, under Gazette 2451/10 of 25.08.2025 on potatoes and onions: annually we consume about 300,000 MT of onions, around 25,000 MT a month. During harvest — from August to November — prices are managed via Gazette. It was done traditionally. This time too, though opponents claim “friends” were informed early, the statistics show otherwise. Onion can be stored three months. Import volumes did not spike in the three months before the levy. Potatoes: imports in May 10,000 MT; June 14,000; July 16,000; August 11,000; after levy it dropped to 13,000 MT. For onions: May 26,000 MT; June 20,000; July 27,000; August 29,000; September down to 8,789 MT. Generally, we imported within the 25–30,000 MT monthly requirement. The Opposition is spreading misinformation for short-term gain.

¶ 06 The Opposition Leader questioned production cost figures; there are simple proposals to double efficiency with about Rs. 150,000 per farmer — but during your time in office you did not do these simple things. We are ready to proceed.

¶ 07 At minimum, those who could not provide timely, fairly-priced seed onions and seed potatoes now come to instruct us. Unite as you wish; it will make governing easier for us.

¶ 08 Thank you, Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees.