Demand for Beer Soars in AP, Supplies Fall Due to Drought

Vijayawada: In irony of sorts, guzzlers, who want to beat the summer heat with a sip of chilled beer, are finding the going tough this time around with the supplies being cut down due to the severe drought conditions prevailed in the state.The drink ran out of stocks in the depots of Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation (APBC) with the soaring demand and fall in supply.

AP gets additional supplies of beer and other liquor from Telangana and other neighbouring states when local production is in shortage. Due to draught conditions and scarcity of water, the state government declined the renewal of licence to Artos Breweries Limited at Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari district, which supplies beer under the Golden Eagle brand name. The only other unit in the state at Ranasthalam in Srikakulam district is also unable to produce up to its full capacity of 60 lakh cases per year.

Beer dealers across the state are worried with the Andhra Pradesh Beverages Corporation rationing the allotments at the rate of five cases per shop. However, the demand is as high as 100 beer bottles per day in summer. "The allotment of five cases, comprising 12 bottles each, is just insufficient," dealers said.

According to official sources, the state registers sale of 15 lakh cases a month. "That rose by 200 percent in the summer months due to rising temperatures," an official said.

With the shortage of supplies, beer lovers are ready to pay higher price for a bottle of their choicest brand. The retailers are selling the drink at different rates at different bars in Vijayawada and other cities. Customers have no complaints paying even Rs 20 more than the stipulated price. And it may even go higher in tandem with the rising temperatures in the days to come.

The situation may even lead to smuggling activity as the product finds its way into the retail market through illicit routes from Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, causing a dent in the excise revenues.

President of Andhra Pradesh Wine Dealers' Association Rayala Subbarayudu from Guntur said that a delegation from the association on Saturday met Mukesh Kumar Meena, commissioner of prohibition and excise department, with a request to take measures to increase the supply of beer.

He is reported to have told wine dealers that the government was making efforts to import 10 lakh cases from Goa, Aurangabad and Pondicherry within a few days.

"Around 20 lakh cases were sold away till date in this season and we can meet the demand with another 10 lakh cases", Subbarayudu said.

The APBC depends on Telangana for five lakh cases for supply to 6,000 outlets in the state. But Telangana government has stopped supplies to AP as a result of fall in production and rising demand within the state this year.

The drop in the water levels in Manjeera river, which feeds the distilleries in Telangana, reportedly hit beer production, which is affecting Andhra Pradesh.

The demand for beer has gone up manifold in Hyderabad and local production is hardly enough to meet the demand in Hyderabad. So, the supply from Telangana was stopped this time.