Kerala Records All-time High Liquor Sales at Rs 487 Crore During Onam

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala hit an all-time high in liquor sales during Onam with a whopping Rs 30 crore rise from the previous year.

For eight days starting from September 3 to September 10, the state saw sales worth Rs 487 crore across all retail outlets selling foreign liquor, a 3 per cent rise from 2018. During the same time last year, sales of a total of Rs 457 crore had been recorded.

Despite the recent floods, the month of August was especially profitable and recorded a Rs 71 crore rise in total sales from July. BEVCO (Beverages Cooperation)-owned outlets made sales worth a total of Rs 1,229 crore.

This time around, sales worth Rs 90.32 were made on the penultimate day of Onam. In the previous year, this was Rs 88.08 crore.

Despite a slight dip in sales as compared to the previous year, highest sales was recorded in the BEVCO outlet in Thrissur’s Irinjalakuda. From its 2018 sales which were at Rs 1.22 crores, sales in 2019 were recorded at Rs 1.040 crores.

The second and third highest selling liquor outlets were those owned by Alappuzha Kacheripadi Junction and Power House Road in Thiruvananthapuram.

The outlets had been closed for three of the days during this period – September 1, September 11 and September 13.

However, the three percent rise also account for the increase in liquor prices and the tax on liquor, enacted by the state government following the 2018 floods.

Incidentally, BEVCO recorded its highest sales in August 2018, the month when the state was hit by the devastating floods, as it raked up sales worth Rs 1264.69 crore.