New Delhi: According to a report of The Times of India, this year has been marked by record sales of 3.9 crore bottles of liquor two weeks ahead of Diwali in the capital that amounted to a whopping Rs. 448 crore. Compared to previous years, it was way above the figures from the last two years. While in 2022, 1.9 crore bottles were sold amounting to Rs. 324 crore, this year 2.7 crore bottles are sold that amounts to Rs. 433 crore.
As per the sources, the liquor sales were down the three weeks before Dussehra due to religious reason. It then picked up from Dussehra and surged over the two days to Diwali. This year, sales figures include all types of spirits, such as whisky, rum, vodka and gin, as well as lighter beverages like beer, wine, and other alcoholic drinks in various sizes. The highest sales of the season, amounting to around 35 lakh bottles, were reported on October 29, while on October 30 it declined to 34 lakh bottles. Diwali was celebrated on October 31, which is a public holiday and a dry day. In 2023, nearly 28 lakh bottles were sold the day before Diwali marking the season’s highest.
Other than Diwali, the main liquor selling days are New Year’s Eve and the festival of colours, Holi. According to reports, on these festive occasions, people buy liquor for their personal consumption, for stock, and also for giving as a gift. The higher sales have thus become a bonanza for the excise department too, which had seen a hard September.
Liquor shortage had gripped the department in the wake of reported technical glitches in the portal of the Excise supply chain management system (ESCIMS). In October, however things changed as the excise department had introduced the new portal conceptualized and designed by the National Informatics Centre. Between 1 April to 31October, the government managed to raise excise duty of Rs. 3047 crore from liquor sale, that works out to a 7% money-on-money growth above Rs. 2849 crore in financial year 2023-2024 for the comparable period. The Delhi government, in its budget for 2024-2025 financial year, has kept Rs. 6,400 crore worth of excise revenue set aside.