T'puram: Even as most of the sectors took a hit due to Covid-19, liquor sales have provided the state a robust revenue.
The state earned Rs 11,743.99 crore from liquor sales in the last financial year, which is only 5.28% less compared to the previous year.
In 2019-20, the sale of liquor had fetched the state exchequer Rs 12,398 crore, after deducting the operational cost, payment to the manufacturers, and other costs incurred by the Bevco and its profit margin. At least 52 days of liquor sales were lost in the previous financial year due to the Covid-19 lockdown.
In terms of quantity, in 2019-20, the total consumption of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) in the state was 222.83 lakh cases, while in 2020-21, it closed at 193.3 lakh cases, showing a decrease of 29.53 lakh cases.
However, the decrease in consumption of beer in 2020-21 was much more than the figures for 2019-20, showing that post-lockdown, IMFL had much more takers than beer and wine. While in 2019-20, the sale of beer in the state was 122.02 lakh cases, in 2020-21, it dropped to 76.7 lakh cases, marking a decrease of 45.32 lakh cases.
The sale of IMFL had picked up in the last four months of the financial year, and the 35% sales tax imposed on it in May last year ensured that the overall revenue contribution to the state exchequer from liquor sales in 2020-21 did not drop much, vis-a-vis to the previous year.
The sales figures in each of the last four months of the financial year had consistently been above Rs 1,200 crore. The figures for December and January were Rs 1,498 crore and Rs 1,466 crore respectively. The Bevco outlets and bar hotels were shut as part of the national lockdown in April last year. The Bevco outlets were reopened and sales resumed using BevQ token system from May 28.
Despite the drop in quantity of IMFL and beer last year, the earnings did not drop much as the government had in May last year increased the sales tax by 35%. At present, the sales tax on IMFL is 237% for brands costing up to Rs 400 and 247% for brands that cost above Rs 400.
In the last five years, the contribution from the liquor sales to the state exchequer had increased by Rs 2,200 crores.