Karnataka uncorked the New Year in high spirits, which reflects in liquor sales. The grand welcome by revellers has helped the Excise Department rake in a whopping Rs 70 crore in a single day, on December 31, 2018. Indian Made Liquor and beer together accounted for this huge collection.
The revenue this year, according to Excise Department officials, is around 10 per cent more than the previous year’s liquor sale on New Year’s Eve.
Revellers who bought alcohol to ring in the New Year have helped the excise department rake in a whopping Rs 70 crore in a single day, on December 31, 2018. This, according to department officials, is around 10 per cent more than the previous year’s liquor sale on New Year’s Eve.
There are 10,400 liquor retailers across Karnataka. According to the data by the excise department, on December 31 (Monday), 3.83 lakh carton boxes of Indian Made Liquor (IML) and 1.48 lakh carton boxes of beer were sold. This is against an average of 1.75 lakh carton boxes of IML and 60,000 CB of beer on other days. According to a senior official from the department, together, they generated more than Rs 70 crore on Monday.
“We expected these sales,’’ the official said. This financial year, the price of liquor was increased and that also resulted in more revenue. “The target for this financial year (2018-19) is Rs 19,750 crore, and by December-end, we have crossed Rs 15,000 crore. In the next three months, we hope to meet and cross the target,’’ the official said.
V Yashavanth, the excise commissioner, told media that the state government had increased prices by 8 per cent on certain liquor slabs, from April 2018. After the new government took charge, from August 2018, the price of liquor was increased across all 18 slabs by an additional 4 per cent. This could be one of the reasons for the higher revenue.
Agencis
