Maharashtra: Alcohol sale jumps record 23% in 1 year, revenue rises 25%

MUMBAI: Alcohol consumption jumped 23% going by sales between 2021-22 and 2022-23 in the state, show excise department data. Senior officials said it was the biggest year-on-year rise over the past several decades despite a price rise.
The state reaped the benefit with a record Rs 21,550 crore excise haul, a huge revenue increase of almost 25%.
Beer and wine put on impressive shows (see box), thanks to a liberalised policy to push sale, said officials.
The revenue jump has been the most impressive in Nagpur, Aurangabad and Kolhapur regions, more than the traditional cash cows of Mumbai-Thane, Pune and Nashik regions. Nagpur revenue grew 42.9%, Aurangabad and Kolhapur have registered 29.7% and 28.5% more sales, respectively. Mumbai-Thane, Pune and Nashik have shown an annual increase of around 23% in excise revenue.
According to Sumit Chawala, vice-president of the association of progressive retail liquor vendors (APRLV), the state policy to liberalise beer and wine sale, especially in the regions of Nagpur, Kolhapur and Aurangabad has led to improvement in availability of beer and wine leading to growth in consumption as well as the revenue.
Similarly, he said, if the state reduces taxes on beer eventually, there will be a huge rise in sales in Mumbai-Thane, Nashik and Pune regions.