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AP, the top consumer of alcohol
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Saturday, 28 April, 2007, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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K Sriramulu, Hyderabad
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ndhra Pradesh every single time whenever prohibition is lifted after periodical enforcement of ban on liquor. It may sound illogical but it is the logical finale of the ban on liquor and then the freedom to drink.
The Excise revenue, which was negligible before 1952 on which year total prohibition was slapped on Andhra and Rayalaseem regions, witnessed a jump to Rs 50 crore when the ban on the liquor was lifted in 1969. Again, the Excise revenue was below Rs 500 crore before total prohibition was imposed in 1995, rose sharply Rs 887.47 crore by the time the ban was lifted again in 1997. From then onwards, there is no looking back. The Excise revenue has touched a little over Rs 4000 crore during the current financial year.
The Andhra Pradesh Breweries Corporation Limited (APBCL), which has a monopoly over the liquor wholesale trade in the state, is reticent in revealing its total turnover by putting forth one or the other pretext. But enquiries with sources outside the APBCL has shown that beer is guzzled uninterruptedly by the connoisseurs of liquor during this hottest summer.
A leading beer manufacturing company source told Food & Beverage News that as many as 33 lakh beer cases were consumed during March alone. Each case of beer contains 12 bottles of 650 ml beer and if it is 330 ml, each case accounts for 24 bottles. This is the record sale of beer in the state. The sale of beer may double in May when weather turns hottest, the liquor industry hopes.
It does not mean that the consumption of hard liquor declines. Hard liquor sales, too, remains constant. Transaction of liquor through APBCL is growing every year. The total turnover of APBCL may touch not less than Rs 4,500 crore during this financial year, according to estimates. It was Rs 2, 250.39 crore during 1998-99.
The liquor lobby, which developed strong roots in the state after the ban was lifted in 1947, dictated terms to the APBCL for a long time. For over eight years since the prohibition was lifted, the APBCL was criticised for allowing price variation on brand of whisky. This brand was then sold for Rs 352.39 in Tamil Nadu but its price was Rs 826.22 in the state.
Though the liquor lobby used to be influential in the past too, politicians were wary in openly opting to do this business. But after the prohibition and its lifting, a few politicians seem to have shed their hesitation.
The liquor market in the state remains biggest in South India. As much as 20 lakh cases of liquor are consumed in the state a month, a study showed a year ago. The consumption has since gone up a little.
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