KOLKATA: Despite a shortage in supply of some premium imported brands, liquor sales saw a 15% surge during the Holi weekend compared to the corresponding period of 2021. Sale figures touched Rs 200 crore over four days, between Thursday and Sunday of last week, averaging Rs 50 crore per day.
Excise department sources, however, pointed out that even though sales have been good, keeping hopes alive of the state meeting its target set for this year, this is not unusual. “We have a sale rate of Rs 45 crore a day and the target revenue set in 2022-23 is Rs 16,500 crore,” a source said.
The revenue target from excise for this fiscal was Rs 15,580 crore, with a daily target of over Rs 40 crore. “This figure has been achieved despite a short supply of single malt, Scotch and other premium imported liquors,” an excise official said.
A top excise official pointed out that the drop in liquor prices led to a huge spurt in demand. Some of them are now cheaper by more than 35%-40%. “There is a quota for these liquors for every state and there was a disruption in shipment due to Covid and then Russia-Ukraine conflict. We hope that it would be normalized before the Bengali New Year,” an excise official added.
A leading liquor retailer said that there has been supply of almost all bottled in origin premium liquors has been slow. “The demand for some of these brands went up three-four times from December and that resulted in shortages,” a leading retailer added.
Incidentally, the state witnessed the highest ever revenue collection from liquor in a month in December 2021, following the drop in prices in November. It had touched the Rs 2,000 crore-mark, which is almost 25% more than the pre-Covid level.
The sale of bottled in origin (BIO) and overseas spirit bottled in India (OSBI) went up almost four times in December. Incidentally, these segments consist of scotches and very premium vodka and gin. “The average revenue in December, during pre-Covid times, would be Rs 1,500 crore-Rs 1,600 crore,” said liquor company official.
