Bengaluru: 15% decrease in Karnataka liquor sales

Bengaluru : As a result of the guarantee schemes, the government, which raised the price of liquor and imposed 20 per cent hike in additional excise duty (AED) on alcohol has not just adversely hit sales but also has put a hole in consumer’s pocket.

Due to continuous price increase, alcoholics are not interested in buying liquor. Due to this there has been a significant decrease in the sale of alcohol. Indian Made Liquor (IML) volume has seen a decline of 15 per cent. But no such variation was found in beer sales. The purchase demand for liquor to the State Liquor Corporation has decreased. In the last four months, the income was Rs 2,500 crore every month. Only Rs 962 crore has been collected this August.

In 2022-August: Sales of IML was 25.50 lakh boxes, Beer 10.34 lakh boxes, In 2023 August: IMFL sold were 21.87 lakh boxes, Beer 12.52 lakh boxes sold.

Demand for low priced brands has increased. Scotch lovers tend to lean towards the premium brand. Premium lovers have shifted to normal brands. Thus the government revenue collection has also been affected.

The income generated is in April Rs 2,308 crore, May Rs 2,607 crore, June Rs 3,549 crore and July Rs 2,980 crore. As a result of the 20 per cent increase in duty on IMFL, the price of liquor in all 18 slabs has increased. An increase of Rs 10 to Rs 20 per peg and Rs 50 to Rs 200 per bottle there has been an increase. An average of 61 lakh tonnes of boxes were sold every month. Only 18.8 lakh tonnes of boxes were sold in August due to the price hike.