Liquor consumption comes down in Andhra Pradesh, officials attribute it to new policy 

VIJAYAWADA: The consumption of liquor in the State has come down in 2020 compared to the previous year.

State officials attribute it to the liquor policy launched by the government to impose prohibition in a phased manner. 

From April to December 2020, 126.55 lakh cases of IMFL (Indian-made foreign liquor) were sold in the State, compared to 239.56 lakh cases in the corresponding period of 2019, registering a drop of 47.17 per cent in sales. 

On the other hand, 126.55 lakh cases of beer were sold in the State in 2020 as against 186.36 lakh cases in 2019, registering 80.91 per cent dip.

The officials said that the ve steps taken up by the State government such as reduction of working hours of wine shops, closure of permit rooms, reducing the number of liquor shops by 33 per cent  — from 4,380 to 2,934 — and closure of 43,000 belt shops  (unauthorised outlets) are yielding positive results.

They said that the sale of IMFL in December 2019 was 25.88 lakh cases. In 2020,  21.41 lakh cases of IMFL were sold in the State, a 17.27 percent reduction compared to December 2019.  

The sale of beer in December 2019 was 7.93 lakh cases and that in December 2020 was 6.14 lakh cases, a 22.57 per cent fall. 

The sale of IMFL on December 30 and December 31 in 2019 was 96,330 cases and 1,37,669 cases respectively and it was reduced to 81,087 cases on December 30, 2020 and 1,04,904 cases on December 31 in 2020.

Similarly, the sale of beer on December 30 and December 31 in 2019 was 34,307 cases and 65,317 cases respectively and it was reduced to 22,263 on December 30, 2020 and 46,459 cases on December 31.

In Telangana, the sale of IMFL and beer on December 31, 2020 was 2.17 lakh and 1.56 lakh cases, respectively.