Delhi bought liquor worth ₹54 crore on Diwali eve

About 64 lakh bottles worth ₹121 crore were bought by people in Delhi in just three days running up to Diwali.

A bumper liquor sale of ₹53.89 crore was recorded on the eve of Diwali in Delhi, PTI reported, citing officials.

The total sales in the 17 days before Diwali was over three crore bottles. (File)

According to official data, the total sales in the 17 days before Diwali was over three crore bottles, bringing in a revenue of ₹525.84 crore to the capital.

Of these, a sale of over one crore of liquor bottles fetching ₹234.15 crore to the government was recorded in the week before Diwali alone.

About 64 lakh bottles worth ₹121 crore were bought by people in Delhi in just three days running up to Diwali on Sunday. The shops were closed on Diwali.

Last year, the sale of liquor on the three days before Diwali was 13.46 lakh, 15 lakh and 19.39 lakh bottles, according to PTI.

“As compared to 2022 when 2.11 crore liquor bottles were sold in Delhi during 17 days before Diwali, this year the number jumped to over three crore, recording a 42 per cent growth,” officials said.

There are over 650 liquor stores in the national capital that are run by four Delhi government corporations.

“In the past 10 days since November 1, liquor worth nearly ₹1400 crore has been consumed in the state, an increase of nearly 15% over the same period last year,” the state’s excise minister Nitin Agarwal told HT.

Agarwal added that the period from November to March is immensely beneficial from the point of view of meeting stiff excise revenue targets, set at ₹58,000 crore for the current fiscal.

“We have noticed that sales have gone up across categories,” Agarwal said, adding that nearly 600 brands, including global ones, are registered in Uttar Pradesh.