Kerala rounded off a season of partying by consuming nearly ₹624 crore worth of liquor this Onam.
It is a marked increase in sales for the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the State-owned liquor retail monopoly, compared to 2021 figures (₹529 crores).
The bumper sales have brought a cash windfall of an estimated ₹500 crore to the State exchequer in the seven-day run-up to Thiruvonam. However, an official said the actual spending on liquor might be much more.
The government has merely released the figure for liquor sold through Bevco outlets.
The administration was yet to publish the quantum of liquor sold through hundreds of bars, beer, and wine parlours in the State.
Excise officials said bootleg liquor, hooch and moonshine also appropriated a sizeable market segment for cheap and hard spirits during the Onam holidays.
Bevco had downed shutters on Thiruvonam day when liquor sales peak. Excise officials said Bevco’s closure on the high-sales day seriously increased the risk of spurious liquor entering the black market.
The shuttering also caused illegal hoarding and smuggling of liquor, covert sales and higher rates and bigger crowds in bar hotels. Many bars had reportedly violated licence conditions by selling liquor as parcels.
Kerala has arguably the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. The sale of legal liquor in the State has continued spiralling upwards despite the prohibitive tax on spirits and the high number of dry days.
On the Uthradom day alone, the Bevco sold ₹117 crore worth of spirits, an increase from ₹85 crore in 2021. The Bevco outlet at Ashramam in Kollam registered the highest sales (₹1.06 crores on Uthrad0m), followed closely by the retail centre on Power House Road in Thiruvananthapuram.
