HYDERABAD: Liquor sales have time and again come to the rescue of the Telangana State Government and earned huge revenues post the lockdown and slowdown of the State economy. As per reports, liquor sales stood at Rs 24,814 Crore from April 1, 2020 to February 28 this year. Out of this, the excise department earned over Rs 15,000 Crore after the VAT reduction.

All sectors in the state and the people took a blow due to the Coronavirus pandemic, lockdown, and subsequent slowdown state economy. In the budget introduced by the government for the financial year 2020–21, the sources of revenue in the form of taxes have not been able to reach the target. However the sale of liquor has brought in huge revenues for the state government.

The government aims to collect Rs 16,000 Crore under excise revenue in the current financial year. With another month to go, the revenue is expected to touch Rs 15,000 Crore. Excise officials are estimating that the revenue might be higher than Rs 1,000 Crore in the month of March.

During the lockdown time last year, there were no liquor sales for 46 days i.e., from March 22 to May 6. Excise officials say that if wine shops and bars were open during that phase the revenue would have gone up by another Rs 2,000 Crore. Overall, despite the decline in revenue from key sectors such as GST, sales tax and registrations, the state treasury would be in a comfortable situation due to the increase in liquor revenue.

Consumption of liquor per day

If you look at the liquor sales figures for the last 11 months, it is revealed that 5.6 lakh litres of beer and 8.22 lakh litres of liqueur were consumed daily in the State. As per the liquor break up, reports show that 2.4 crore cases of beers and over 3 crore cases of liquor were sold during the last 11 months. Each liqueur case contains 9 litres of alcohol and a beer case 7.8 litres of beer.

In the last 334 days, people have been drinking up to 14 lakh litres of liquor and beer a day. In January this year, 28 lakh cases of liquor, and 33 lakh cases of beer were sold in the state. Their value is estimated at Rs 2,727 crore. With only 28 days left in February, alcohol consumption was a bit low for various reasons.

It is said that three lakh cases of liquor and five lakh cases of beer were sold which was less when compared to the January sales. Sources in the Excise department say that liquor sales will rise again in March. The Telangana state government has identified liquor sales as a significant source of additional revenues for the state apart from realty.