Onam kicks in: Kerala records liquor sales worth ₹624 crore

This Onam season, tipplers in Kerala contributed over ₹624 crore to the state’s coffers with the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) also known as Bevco registering a record sales from September 1-7.

Five outlets in Kerala, Ashramam in Kollam, Power House Road in Thiruvananthapuram, Irinjalakuda in Thrissur, Court junction in Cherthala and Payyannur in Kannur, recorded a sale of over ₹1 crore each on September 7, Uthradom day, which is a day before Thiruvonam.

The Ashramam outlet recorded a sale of ₹1.06 crore on Wednesday, the highest in the state.

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“This Uthradom day, Bevco made a record sales of ₹118 crore. Last year, this was ₹81 crore. Some of the stores had a footfall of over 10,000 on that day. The Onam season is from September 1-11. However, during September 1-7 itself, we had a record sale of ₹624 crore,” Bevco CMD Yogesh Gupta told PTI.

Last year, during the Onam season, the sales touched ₹561 crore. However, even though the Onam season is not over yet, the sales have touched ₹634 crore.

“There is an increase of 30 per cent already. We expect a sale of ₹750 crore by the end of this Onam season,” Gupta said.

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There are 301 government-run liquor outlets across the State. In 2020, the Left government increased the price of liquor by 10-35 per cent to get extra revenue. Currently, the sales tax on IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) is 237 per cent for brands priced up to ₹400 and 247 per cent for those above that price.

(With inputs from agencies)