Noida guzzled liquor worth Rs 1,652 cr in 2022-23

Noida: The residents of Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar consumed liquor worth Rs 1,652 crore in 2022-23, fetching the highest revenue in a financial year since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, excise department officials here said. The excise department in Gautam Buddh Nagar, which comprises Noida and Greater Noida, also launched a crackdown on illegal liquor during the year, seizing more than 50,000 litres of illicit alcohol and arresting 360 people.

According to excise figures, the target for 2022-23 was set at Rs 1,828 crore, against which a revenue of Rs 1,652 crore (90.37 per cent) was earned from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. The revenue earned in 2021-22 stood at Rs 1,346 crore and in 2020-21, at Rs 1,019 crore, the data showed.

"During 2022-23, a total of 966 cases related to violations of the excise law, such as liquor trafficking, overrating by vendors etc., were lodged and 360 offenders arrested. Additionally, 51,434 litres of illicit liquor was seized by the department and 106 vehicles, including two-wheelers, impounded," District Excise Officer Rakesh Bahadur Singh told PTI. Gautam Buddh Nagar, which shares its borders with Delhi and Haryana, has 535 licensed liquor shops across Noida and Greater Noida, Singh said.

The officer said the liquor sales were impacted due to the Covid outbreak in the first quarter of 2020, but picked up pace eventually, leading to a record revenue in the last fiscal. "We have been able to achieve more than 90 per cent of our target of Rs 1,828 crore in revenue. We could have achieved the target but due to some policy issues in neighbouring Delhi, we fell slightly short of it," Singh added.