In high spirits: Maha guzzles 14.8-cr litres of beer; sales up by 13% in first half of financial year

Beer sales in Maharashtra have seen a significant rise of over 13% in the last few months, while sales of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and country liquor have dropped slightly. The overall sales of liquor in the state have increased by 7.29% so far this year.

Mumbai: Beer lovers in Maharashtra are breaking out the bubbly, contributing to a significant rise in its sales of over 13% in the state in the last few months, while Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) and country liquor sales dropped marginally.

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The first four months of the ongoing financial year recorded sales of 14.08 crore litres until July 31, 2023, from 12.71 crore litres during the same period in the last financial year.

While the sales of beer in the state was on the rise, the sales IMFL and country liquor sales dropped marginally in the first four months of the ongoing year. The sales of the IMFL was 9.68 crore litres against 9.78 crore litres during the period last year, while the country’s litter sales dropped to 12.84 crore litres between April-July this year from 13.14 crore litres last year during the period.

The overall rise in the sales of the liquor of all types has increased in the state by 7.29% until the first week of August. The accumulative collection from April 1 to August 8, for the overall sales stood at ₹8682 crore from ₹8,092 crore during this period in 2022-23. The state government has set the target of the revenue collection of ₹26,000 crore in 2023-24 crore from excise on liquor. “The target set for the current fiscal is exorbitant from ₹23,000 crore last year, and it is unlikely to be achieved with the natural growth we have reported so far. Some of the divisions like Nashik and Kolhapur have reported a rise in sales by 11.62 and 13.84%, while in Vidarbha it is negative with around -5%. It shows the economic distress in some of the districts. Though the revenue collection was

Randeep Singh, former vice president, Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association said, “Easy availability, preference by the youngsters has set this new trend of phenomenal rise in the beer consumption. Despite being the high duty on beer, in comparison to IMFL, the sales of the beer have gone up in the last few months. If the government reduces the duty by just 5-7%, the beer sales may further increase. At the same time inflow of the IMFL from Delhi and Gurgaon, where the duty is comparatively low, is too high affecting our sales.”

In 2022-23, a total of 3,239.42 lakh bulk litres (LBL) of beer was sold in Maharashtra as against 2,328.31 LBL in 2021-22.