Cash crisis fails to dampen spirits, liquor sales go up in Ghaziabad - Hindustan Times
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Cash crisis fails to dampen spirits, liquor sales go up in Ghaziabad

Hindustan Times | By, Ghaziabad
Dec 09, 2016 04:04 PM IST

The number of bottles sold in November this year increased as compared to the same month last year

November, during which, the government scrapped Rs500 and Rs1000 notes, failed to dampen the spirits of liquor consumers in Ghaziabad. In fact, the number of bottles sold in November increased when compared to the same month last year.

In order to keep sales stable, several licensed liquor shops set up card-swipe machines for transactions.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)
In order to keep sales stable, several licensed liquor shops set up card-swipe machines for transactions.(Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

According to official statistics, nearly 6,48,869 bottles of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) were sold during November as compared to about 58,6813 bottles sold during the same month in 2015. The total sales of IMFL also increased from 29,75,392 bottles during April-November last year to 39,01,980 bottles during the same period this year.

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“The number of bottles has increased during the month of demonetisation, but the revenue decreased as the prices of IMFL were reduced during the start of the current financial year. The sales have increased as vendors installed card-swipe machines so that customers could purchase the bottles easily,” said Karunendra Singh, district excise office, Ghaziabad.

However, the sale of beer declined during November this year after demonetisation. Nearly 69,9724 beer bottles were sold during the month, as compared to 10,39,850 in November 2015.

On the other hand, smuggling of liquor plunged in November. The figures stated a seizure of nearly 27,863 litres of liquor during November while the seizures stood at around 43,095 litres during the same month last year.

Despite the dip in prices earlier this financial year, liquor smuggling has failed to decline. From April to November this year, nearly 1,72,213 litres of liquor were seized while only 1,53,219 litres were seized during the same period in 2015.

“The trend is continuing, but smuggling is prevalent from Haryana where prices are still less as compared to UP. Instances of liquor smuggling have reduced from nearby Delhi as the prices in UP are just 5%-10% higher. So, customers prefer to consume liquor in UP instead of travelling to Delhi for a small margin,” an official source said.

The district has 94 IMFL, 200 country-made, 92 beer and 50 model shops that sell liquor. In terms of revenue, the district has a target of nearly Rs890 crore while around 85% of it is already achieved.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Peeyush Khandelwal writes on a range of issues in western Uttar Pradesh – from crime, to development authorities and from infrastructure to transport. Based in Ghaziabad, he has been a journalist for almost a decade.

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