It's bottom's up for hard liquor as beer loses its fizz for Mumbaikers this season. Figures released by the state Excise department show that the frothy drink has fallen out of favour in the city and its suburbs, while it's another round of wine and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).
A senior state excise official attributed the dip to the extended chill in this air this fiscal, while liquor retailers blame the increase in excise duty on beer for consumers shifting to harder drinks.
Sales of beer in the island city and the suburbs fell by 6.44 per cent and 2.50 per cent respectively, with total sales of 148.71 Lakh Bulk Litres (LBL) and 431.90 LBL) from April to December 2018. In the same period last year, 158.95 LBL and 442.96 LBL were sold in Mumbai and its surrounding areas.
However, the rest of the state did not switch drinks and beer sales grew by a healthy 8.41 per cent with sales to the tune of 2,285.90 LBL, as against last year's 2,108.64 LBL.
A city-suburb comparison revealed that wine drinkers are on the rise in the suburbs — its sales rose by 8.32 per cent to end at 13.27 LBL, while the island city showed a rise of mere 1.33 per cent.
Sales of IMFL grew at the rate of 7.54 per cent in the suburbs, showing sales of 216.88 LBL as compared to 201.67 LBL last year. However, they rose by just 2.60 per cent in the city going up from last year's 90.65 LBL to 93 LBL.
The consumption of country liquor fell by only 0.22 per cent in Mumbai city to end at 77.39 LBL.
The figures also show an overall rise in alcohol sales —IMFL rose by 17.00 per cent while beer grew by 8.41 per cent (1,539.36 LBL and 2,285.90 LBL, as compared to last year's 1,304.66 LBL and 2,108.64 LBL). Wine sales stood at 53.41 LBL with a 26.93 per cent rise from 2017-18's 42.08 LBL.
The department official attributed low sales in last year's fiscal to the Supreme Court's ban on liquor vendors within 500 meters of state and national highways.