Booze worth Rs 100 crore sold in UP in 9 hours

TNN | Updated: May 5, 2020, 07:43 IST

People queue up to buy liquor in Lucknow on Monday

LUCKNOW: Long queues were seen outside liquor stores across the state as the 40-day 'dry spell' for tipplers ended in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.
According to excise department officials, sale of over Rs 100 crore was recorded on Monday against the average daily sale of Rs 70-80 crore. The state capital itself saw a sale of Rs 6.3 crore during the day - third higest ever, though the duration of sale was four hours less.
"I dont think there would be any single industry with just less than one lakh workorce gives Rs 100 crore revenue in a day," says principal secretary, excise, Sanjay Bhoosreddy. This was for the first time that all 25,600 liquor shops were closed for 40 days causing a huge revenue loss to the state.
The liquor sellers' association, however, pegged the figures at over Rs 200 crore, adding that about 75% of the amount would have come from the sale of Indian-made foreign liquor or beer.
"The sale of country liquor was minuscule in cities as the labour class, which usually purchases it, has either left for their villages or has no money. The sale would have been higher in villages, but there too, money may have been a constraint," said Kanhaiya Lal Maurya, secretary of Lucknow Liquor Sellers' Association.
Reports from across the state suggested that many shop owners had to shut by afternoon after they ran out of stock.
"People started lining up even before the shops opened. Long queues were still there till we closed our shop at 4pm. We ran out of premium brands which were in demand," said a shop owner in Prayagraj.
Some others raised concerns about the availability of light beer.
‘Buying caps will prevent any hoarding’
A cap on purchase has been imposed to prevent hoarding. A person is not being allowed to purchase more than 1 full bottle (750 ml), or two halves (375 ml), or three quarters (180 ml), or two bottles of beer or three cans. This is being implemented only for the first 2-3 days,” Bhoosreddy said.
He, along with Lucknow excise commissioner, inspected several shops on Monday and found that people largely maintained distancing and wore masks. "This “Wearing masks is compulsory. People without masks will be pulled out of the queues. Shops are also keeping hand sanitizers,” Bhoosreddy added.
According to sources, the sale could have been higher if all shops had opened but those in hotspots were shut. Besides, many districts like Agra, Ghaziabad, Meerut didn't permit booze shops to open on the first day of the third phase of lockdown.
Kanhaiya Lal Maurya of the liquor sellers’ association said sufficient stock was available in factories and godowns to meet the demand over next few days but expressed concern over the availability thereafter as distilleries were either closed or had moved to manufacturing hand sanitizers.
Bhoosreddy, however, said liquor production had started about two weeks ago and supply to wholesalers would remain uninterrupted.