Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalis and their love for booze is well known. The introduction of cess and the resultant hike in liquor prices have failed to douse their “spirits” literally.
In fact, the consumption of alcohol only soared even as fuel sales plummeted post the measure by the state government with an eye on revenue.
Last November, the state cabinet decided to hike the sales tax on liquor by four percent. A few months later, the budget announced a per-bottle cess of Rs 20 on Indian-Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) costing Rs 500 to Rs 999 and Rs 40 on bottles costing over Rs 1000. However, the same didn’t have any impact on sale of the foreign liquor.
While there was a slight fall in the volume of liquor sold to bars and Consumerfed, it was more than compensated by the rise in sales through BEVCO outlets.
In the two-and-a-half months period from April to June 15 this year, Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing & Marketing) Corporation Ltd provided 11.36 lakh cases of foreign liquor to bars and Consumerfed as compared to 11.48 lakh cases in the same period last year. However, the volume of liquor sold through BEVCO outlets increased to 35.45 lakh cases during the same period this year from 32.48 lakh cases the previous year.
Here are the liquor sales figures from April to June 15, post-introduction of the cess:
A total of 11.36 lakh cases of foreign liquor and 14.88 lakh cases of beer were sold to bars and Consumerfed. During the same period, 35.45 lakh cases of foreign liquor and 11.77 lakh cases of beer were sold through BEVCO outlets. The total sales during the two-and-a-half months period were worth Rs 4,091.61 crore, an average monthly sale of Rs 1,636 crore.
In March 2023, 5.06 lakh cases of foreign liquor and 7.17 lakh cases of beer were provided to bars and Consumerfed, while that sold through the BEVCO outlets was 15.60 lakh cases of foreign liquor and 4.63 lakh cases of beer. Sales push in view of the ending of the financial year is cited as one reason for the rise in alcohol consumption in March. Liquor worth Rs 1,556 crore was sold in the month.
While the Government imposed a cess of Rs 20 per bottle of Indian-made foreign liquor costing Rs 500 to Rs 999 and Rs 40 on bottles costing over Rs 1,000, the same for bottles sold through BEVCO outlets was fixed at Rs 30 and Rs 50, respectively. The price after adding cess included the sales tax and turnover tax.
In contrast fuel sales in the state declined following the imposition of a social security cess of Rs 2 on petrol and diesel from April 1 last.
While 21.21 crore litres of petrol were sold in March this year, the sales fell to 19.73 crore litres in April. There was a shortfall of 1.48 crore litres. The quantity of diesel sold was 26.66 crore litres in March and 20.28 crore litres in April. The shortfall was 6.38 crore litres.