Keralites gulp down liquor worth Rs 152 crore over Christmas period

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 26 (IANS) Tipplers in Kerala gulped down beer and liquor worth Rs 152.06 crore over the two Christmas days (December 24-25), as per figures released by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, the sole wholesalers for alcoholic drinks in the state.

Incidentally, there has been a sizeable increase in sales as compared to the 2023 Christmas period when the sales figure was Rs 122.14 crore.

Liquor is sold through 277 retail outlets owned by the Corporation, while the state-backed cooperative organisation Consumerfed also has 39 retail outlets.

On December 24, the sales were Rs 97.42 crore while on Christmas day, it was Rs 54.64 crore.

Incidentally with the sales peaking and with just one more quarter left for the present fiscal to end, it is certain to better the sales of the previous fiscal which saw the sale of liquor and beer touching Rs 19,088.68 crore, up from Rs 18,510.98 crore in 2022-23.

Over the years. the Kerala state exchequer is kept alive by the taxes collected through the sale of beer and liquor as in the last fiscal, this generated a staggering Rs 16,609.63 crore, up from Rs 16,189.55 crore in 2022-23.

The profile of liquor consumers in Kerala reveals that around 32.9 lakh people out of the 3.34 crore population in the state consume liquor, which includes 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women.

Around five lakh people consume liquor on a daily basis. Of this, as many as 83,851 people, including 1,043 women, are addicted to alcohol.

Now all eyes are on the Pinarayi Vijayan government to see what the much-delayed liquor policy is going to be as the draft liquor policy came under fire from several quarters.

Among the recommendations in the draft included the lifting of 'dry days', when liquor vends are closed, (the first of every month is a dry day) besides increasing the production of low-priced liquor, production of wine from fruits, besides increasing the overall production of liquor in the state as 80 per cent of the liquor sold in Kerala arrives from other states.

--IANS

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