New Year revellers guzzle 1,262 cr liquor

Bengaluru: The excise department got a huge income for the New Year celebrations, from December 23 to December 31, 20.66 lakh liters of IML liquor worth Rs 1,262 crore was sold. Out of this, 15.4 lakh liters of beer has been sold, creating a record.

As per the excise official information, on December 27 - 3.57 lakh liters (2.41 lakh beer), December 28 - 2.31 lakh liters (1.67 lakh beer), December 29 - 2.31 lakh liters (1.93 lakh beer), December 30 - 2.93 lakh liters (2.59 lakh beer), December 31 - 3 lakh liters (2.41 lakh beer), December 31-181 crore worth of liquor is said to have been sold.

The pubs in Church Street and Brigade Road were in full demand on New Year's Eve. The pub owners had raised the price for the New Year party by 50% over the fixed rate. Although visitors offered to pay double, they were disappointed because most of the pubs were full.

Even in Church Street the pubs were full. Party lovers paid double money and booked pubs in advance. A special package was given to those who had party with their friends and family in pubs. An unlimited offer was given to attract more people. Separate fees were fixed for couples, families and singles.

New Year was not celebrated for the last three years due to the Covid pandemic. This time there was an opportunity to celebrate the New Year. So the people of the entire state danced all night and welcomed the new year and ushered in the year 2023.

The state government had set a revenue target of Rs 29,000 crore for the year 2022-23 for the excise department. Till December 29 of this year, the department has received an income of Rs 21,981 crore from the sale of alcohol across the state. According to the figures of the Excise Department, there has been a 14% increase in the sale of liquor during the same period of this year compared to last year.

From December 23 to December 31, 2020-21, 17.48 lakh boxes of Indian Made Liquor (IML), 10.62 lakh boxes of beer were sold, from December 23 to December 31, 2021-22, 19.46 lakh boxes of IML, 11.24 lakh boxes of beer were sold. There are a total of 12,113 liquor shops in the state including 3,921 wineshops (CL2), 3,622 bars and restaurants (CL9), 1,729 hotels and lodging houses (CL7) and 265 clubs.

From December 29 to December 31, 2022-23 - 24 lakh boxes of IML and 6.62 lakh boxes of beer have been collected. This also broke the records of the previous two years. IML and beer worth Rs 200 crore were sold on December 31. The largest amount of alcohol is sold in Bengaluru.

More than a thousand occasional (limited to one day) licenses have been issued across the state in the wake of the New Year. Thousands of applications for licenses were submitted to the excise department this year.