Tipplers in state gulp down beer & liquor worth 713cr

T'puram: Liquor sales in the state during this year's Christmas-New Year season reached Rs 712.96 crore compared to last year's Rs 697.05 crore, according to reports released by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco). The data covered the sales period from Dec 22 to 31.Palarivattom outlet in Ernakulam emerged as the top-selling location, followed by Power House Road outlet in the state capital and Edappally outlet, also in Ernakulam, in that order.Asramam ground outlet in Kollam, which typically sees the highest sales every year during this festive period, was fourth.After making merry over the Christmas festival (Dec 24-25) when they consumed beer and liquor worth Rs 152.06 crore, tipplers went a step further on New Year's Eve, when they forked out Rs 108 crore on their preferred drinks.Bevco outlet at Ravipuram in Kochi recorded the highest sales on New Year's Eve.Liquor is sold through 277 retail outlets owned by the corporation while the state-backed cooperative organisation Consumerfed also has 39 retail outlets.The sales on Dec 24 and on the Christmas Day were worth Rs 97.42 crore and Rs 54.64 crore, respectively. There was a sizeable increase in sales, compared to the 2023 Christmas period when the sales figure was Rs 122.14 crore.Incidentally, with the sales peaking and with just one more quarter left for the present fiscal to end, this financial year's figures are expected to be higher compared to last year's Rs 19,088.68 crore.Over the years, the Kerala state exchequer is kept alive by the taxes collected through the sale of beer and liquor. A staggering Rs 16,609.63 crore was collected as tax last fiscal, up from Rs 16,189.55 crore in 2022-23.The profile of liquor consumers in Kerala reveals that around 32.9 lakh people out of the 3.34 crore population in the state consume liquor, which includes 29.8 lakh men and 3.1 lakh women. Around 5 lakh consume liquor on a daily basis. Of this, 83,851, including 1,043 women, are addicted to alcohol. (With inputs from agencies)
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