Good news for beer lovers in Telangana

Hyderabad: While the prices of edible oils and petroleum products are going up on account of the war between Russia and Ukraine, beer guzzlers can celebrate as the government is contemplating reducing beer prices by removing the 17 per cent Covid cess on liquor.

Many states have already done away with this cess. The reason for such a proposal is that there has been a steep fall in the sales of beer. The government had reduced the price of beer by Rs 10 in July 2021 but still the demand did not go up and stocks got piled up at the breweries.

The government feels that the proposed move to reduce the prices and do away with the Covid cess, would help in clearing the stocks and as there would increase in sales as summer has set in. In addition to this, according to the Excise and Prohibition officials, the licensed retail liquor and bar shop dealers have been given the freedom to announce summer offers to increase beer sales from March end.

Currently, bottled beer costs Rs 180 to Rs 200 and the price will go down by Rs 20 to Rs 30, officials said the cost of beer packed in tins would remain the same. The demand for beer goes up during summers. The Excise department hopes that the sales would double by these measures.