KOLKATA: Bengal has witnessed record liquor sales of over Rs 100 crore in just 10 hours that retail outlets have stayed open over the past two days. Much of the sale, over Rs 65 crore, came on Tuesday when shops conducted business for the entire duration of seven hours from 12 noon. On Monday, the outlets could start business post-3pm once the excise department came out with a formal notification on opening of off-shops.
The average daily sales of liquor, both India Made Foreign Liquor and country spirit, in Bengal is around Rs 40-45 crore. The industry, a money-spinner for the government, is worth Rs 16,000-17,000 crore in the state.
In further good news for tipplers, Bevco, the state beverage corporation and wholesale liquor arm, has introduced a portal for e-retail and home delivery to reduce footfall at off-shops. Outlets across the state have seen long queues over the past two days as demand soared following a 40-day dry spell. Some shops in Kolkata recorded all-time high sales of Rs 8-9 lakh on Tuesday, a top retailer claimed.
According to retailers in the city, total sales would have exceeded Rs 125 crore in the two days had the outlets functioned for the full day on Monday.
“Around 1,700-1,800 of the state’s over 2,500 liquor off-shops opened on Tuesday. The number was around 1,300 -1,400 on Monday. Many outlets that are not in containment zones could not open on Monday in Kolkata and Howrah because of the late order. They were operational on Tuesday and saw huge demand,” said a top retailer.
In Kolkata, around 50-55 off-shops did brisk business on Tuesday, some 20 more than that on Monday. Most of these outlets were in central and south Kolkata. Around five shops were allowed to open in north Kolkata following containment-zone guidelines.
State wholesale arm Bevco, which has 22 warehouses across the state, also witnessed a huge demand since it resumed operation at 10 am on Monday. Sources in the excise department said while mid-size Bevco warehouses had an average billing of Rs 1-1.5 crore each on Monday and Tuesday, the three big warehouses in Kashipur, Kharagpur and Panchla saw billing of over Rs 3 crore on both days.
“We have stocks of around 4-5 days,” a Bevco official said.
However, the beverage corporation is facing problems in labelling bottles with the new MRP — the state government had imposed an additional 30% sales tax on liquor from April 9 following the Covid-19 outbreak. “We are not getting enough stickers to relabel the bottles and so retailers have been asked to maintain a price chart in front of off-shops,” the official said.
Back-of-the-envelop calculations suggest the state could have garnered a revenue of over Rs 70 crore in the two days from excise. The estimated excise revenue of Bengal for 2020-21 fiscal is Rs 12,731 crore, which is 17% of the estimated total revenue of Rs 70,807 crore from liquor. Last financial year, the state had mobilized Rs 11,000 crore from liquor. Bengal markets 1.4 crore cases of hard IMFL, including whisky, rum and vodka, and 80 lakh cases of beer annually.
The average daily sales of liquor, both India Made Foreign Liquor and country spirit, in Bengal is around Rs 40-45 crore. The industry, a money-spinner for the government, is worth Rs 16,000-17,000 crore in the state.
In further good news for tipplers, Bevco, the state beverage corporation and wholesale liquor arm, has introduced a portal for e-retail and home delivery to reduce footfall at off-shops. Outlets across the state have seen long queues over the past two days as demand soared following a 40-day dry spell. Some shops in Kolkata recorded all-time high sales of Rs 8-9 lakh on Tuesday, a top retailer claimed.
According to retailers in the city, total sales would have exceeded Rs 125 crore in the two days had the outlets functioned for the full day on Monday.
“Around 1,700-1,800 of the state’s over 2,500 liquor off-shops opened on Tuesday. The number was around 1,300 -1,400 on Monday. Many outlets that are not in containment zones could not open on Monday in Kolkata and Howrah because of the late order. They were operational on Tuesday and saw huge demand,” said a top retailer.
In Kolkata, around 50-55 off-shops did brisk business on Tuesday, some 20 more than that on Monday. Most of these outlets were in central and south Kolkata. Around five shops were allowed to open in north Kolkata following containment-zone guidelines.
State wholesale arm Bevco, which has 22 warehouses across the state, also witnessed a huge demand since it resumed operation at 10 am on Monday. Sources in the excise department said while mid-size Bevco warehouses had an average billing of Rs 1-1.5 crore each on Monday and Tuesday, the three big warehouses in Kashipur, Kharagpur and Panchla saw billing of over Rs 3 crore on both days.
“We have stocks of around 4-5 days,” a Bevco official said.
However, the beverage corporation is facing problems in labelling bottles with the new MRP — the state government had imposed an additional 30% sales tax on liquor from April 9 following the Covid-19 outbreak. “We are not getting enough stickers to relabel the bottles and so retailers have been asked to maintain a price chart in front of off-shops,” the official said.
Back-of-the-envelop calculations suggest the state could have garnered a revenue of over Rs 70 crore in the two days from excise. The estimated excise revenue of Bengal for 2020-21 fiscal is Rs 12,731 crore, which is 17% of the estimated total revenue of Rs 70,807 crore from liquor. Last financial year, the state had mobilized Rs 11,000 crore from liquor. Bengal markets 1.4 crore cases of hard IMFL, including whisky, rum and vodka, and 80 lakh cases of beer annually.
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