Liquor sales in Anantapur district witnessed a massive jump of 71.5% from a daily average sale of ₹3.62 crore to ₹6.21 crore on Friday alone, though the sales counters were opened only for one hour additionally in both government outlets and service in bars. The entire State recorded a sale of ₹120 crore on a single day.
Anantapur Nodal Prohibition and Excise Superintendent Rangoon Srinivasan Kumareswaran said that since December 19, when the liquor prices on some brands were reduced by 40% to 45%, the volumes had gone up and the cross-border smuggling from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Telangana had come down.
Kurnool and Anantapur districts have a long border with Karnataka, but the Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) had been able to effectively block the flow, but after the reduction in prices, the A.P. brands had been doing better and liquor flow Karnataka had stopped automatically. But the illicitly distilled liquor was the worst enemy and the SEB was hard-pressed to control these operators. Anantapur district is in the second position in the A.P. in controlling the smuggling of liquor.
“Earlier, when private players used to have license, they used to keep a check within their jurisdiction and give information to the excise/police personnel, but now the police, excise, and SEB sleuths are forced to keep a tab on them,” said Mr. Kumareswaran.
