Revenue From Alcohol Sales: Looking At States Across India On Top Of The List

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Union Minister Uma Bharti vandalised a liquor shop in Bhopal on March 13, hurling a stone into the store and guiding a group of protestors against protestors the sale of alcohol in residential areas.

A video from this incident went massively viral on different social media platforms, on the back of which Bharti took to Twitter and stated that such vends had been opened in residential areas while also warning the local administration that the liquor vends should be closed within the next seven days.

For some time now, Bharti has been running a campaign against the consumption and sale of liquor in the state, however, the BJP has so far distanced itself from her campaign.

Madhya Pradesh's Liquor Revenue

For the financial year 2020-21, the MP government earned 26.14 per cent higher revenue from the sale of liquor in the state, which was dominated by the pandemic when compared to 2019-20.

Back in August last year, state Finance Minister Jagdish Devda had revealed that the revenue earned from Value Added Tax (VAT) on liquor increased to ₹1183.58 crore during 2020-21 from ₹938.28 crore in 2019-20, an increase of nearly 26.14 per cent, while this total was Rs 632.27 crore during 2018-19.

He also had revealed that VAT on the sale of liquor from shops was 10 per cent and it was 18 per cent when served in bars and restaurants, as per The Economic Times.

India's Liquor Consumption

According to a recent survey conducted by the National Family Health Survey, Kerala is the leader among all other Indian states on this aspect. The survey revealed that approximately 18.7 per cent of men in rural areas and 21 per cent of men in cities consume alcohol in the state. If the national average of alcohol users above 15 years among men is 18.8 per cent, it is 19.9 per cent in Kerala, reported Onmaronoma.

Alcohol consumption in the Alappuzha district is slightly more compared to the other 13 districts of the state.

Meanwhile, in what set the highest-ever earning in a month, the excise department raked in over ₹3,000 crore from liquor sales in December last year. Shopkeepers raised stocks worth ₹ 3,040 crores from depots, with the sales figure also being higher than December 2020 of ₹ 2,765 crore. Officials said it was a particularly happy December this time, reported The Times of India.

Telangana has been going head-to-head against Tamil Nadu, which was among the highest revenue-generating states from liquor sales, as per The Hans India. In the previous financial year, the government of TN had earned nearly ₹38,000 crore revenue, and Telangana wracked in ₹ 40,000 crore.

Over the past two years, Telangana has earned ₹ 54,000 crore through liquor sales, and in the coming year, it is set to break Rs 40,000 crore in just a single financial year.

When it comes to West Bengal, the state witnessed the highest ever revenue from booze in a month in December on the back of a drop in prices in December 2021. It touched nearly the ₹ 2,000-crore mark, which is almost 25 per cent more than the pre-COVID level. The sale of bottled in origin (BIO) and also overseas spirit bottled in India (OSBI) shot up nearly four times in December.

A total of nearly 2,076 new liquor shops received their licence in the past four years, as Uttar Pradesh saw a 74 per cent increase in revenue through liquor, RTI had revealed back in July 2021. A substantial part of this revenue -- approximately 10 per cent -- for the state comes from excise duty on booze.

During the 2020-21 financial year, the Yogi Government wrecked in earned Rs 30,061 crore from licence fee and excise duty from the liquor shops, Business Today reported.

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