Beer Sales High due to Scorching Heat – 1 Cr litres Guzzled in April

As Mercury Levels have hit High this summer, Beer Drinkers in Karnataka have guzzled over 1 Crore litres of Beer between April 1-16

Mangaluru: Although there is scarcity of water all over Karnataka State, including DK and Mangaluru, but it seems like when it comes to beer, there is no scarcity. According to the Karnataka State Excise Department data, in March 2016, 2.75 crore litres of beer was sold as against 2.06 crore litres in March 2015-which means 65 lakh litres of beer was consumed more than last year. Also just between April 1-16, 2016, it is learnt that the consumption of beer has crossed over 1 crore litres, while the sale of Indian Made liquor (IML) has reached 1.41 crore. And this kind of increase in sales will last till May end. Thanks to the scorching heat this year that has resulted in such huge sales of beer.

According to sources, there are 9948 licence holders to sell IML and beer including 3943 retail shops, 3583 bar and restaurants. The state government had generated a revenue of Rs 12,998 crore IML sale in 2015-16, and they are predicting Rs 13,770 crore in sales this financial year. Last year the state government had earned Rs 1705 crore through beer sales in 2015, and is expected to earn Rs 2030 crore in 2016-17. Although the government had stopped giving fresh licences to liquor shops for the last many years, this year government had proposed to issue many fresh licenses, but the proposal is on hold before the finance department.

Sources reveal that there are 3943 retail liquor shops, 3583 bar and restaurants, 132 retail vending of beer, 400 MSIL shops, 935 Hotels/Boarding establishments, 218 clubs, 268 wine taverns, 62 wine boutique, 63 star hotels, and 65 Military canteens. Shivalingaiah, secretary General of Karnataka Brewers and Distillers Association has revealed that Karnataka State stands fourth in terms of beer sales. “Since this year summer has been extremely hot, people are switching from hard liquor to beer, especially youngsters are the most consumers of beer. And many people prefer to carry beer while on vacation. Beer sale commonly goes up in summer and this year due to scorching heat it has gone up further. Beer sale is directly proportionate to heat” added Shivalingaiah.

Smelling the increase in revenue through sale of beer and liquor, the government is getting more greedy by trying to increase the excise license fee, which means liquor consumers have to shell few extra bucks on their favorite booze pretty soon. It is learnt that CM Sidaramaiah is planning to increase the license renewal fee by 25 percent. This will result in liquor retailers have to put in more money, and eventually it will reflect on the consumers. So grab a few chilled ones this summer, before the prices goes up! Cheers.