Chandigarh: Punjab excise and taxation minister Harpal Singh Cheema has urged the Centre to enact a law regulating methyl alcohol (methanol), saying tighter controls are needed to prevent its diversion for liquor adulteration and avert hooch tragedies.
Chairing a review meeting with additional chief secretary (excise) D K Tiwari and excise and taxation commissioner Jitendra Jorwal, Cheema said no state could effectively regulate methanol on its own as nearly 90% of India's requirement is imported and transported across multiple states before reaching industrial users.
He also flagged the online availability of methanol, saying it can be purchased through e-commerce platforms without identity verification or declaration of purpose, making monitoring and enforcement difficult.
Cheema said the existing regulatory framework was fragmented and spread across laws such as the Poisons Act, 1919, the Petroleum Act, 1934, and the Inflammable Substances Act, 1952. He added that state excise laws, designed to regulate locally produced ethyl alcohol, were inadequate to monitor methanol, a petrochemical product transported across states.
The minister said Punjab has submitted five recommendations to the Union commerce ministry, including a dedicated central law covering the import, storage, transport, sale and end-use of methanol; a national end-to-end tracking system from ports of entry; a ban on online sales to unregistered buyers; stricter penalties for diversion of methanol to illicit liquor production; and a meeting of all state excise ministers chaired by the Union commerce minister.
Cheema also directed the excise department to pursue the matter with the Centre and said Punjab would continue to strengthen enforcement and monitoring at the state level under the Poisons Act and related rules.
