This Onam season, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited (Bevco) made Rs 750 crore, an all-time record, through sale of liquor during August 11-22.
Managing director of Bevco (manufacturing & marketing) Yogesh Gupta said over Rs 600 crore from this amount would go to the State government as taxes.
"Last Onam, we made around Rs 565 crore in sales. This year, we saw a record sale of Rs 750 crore," Gupta told PTI.
On the eve of 'Thiruvonam', Bevco reported Rs 85 crore, he said.
"The liquor store on Power House Road in Thiruvananthapuram made Rs 1.04 crore on August 20. In fact, there has been a 40 per cent increase in sales this year," Gupta said.
He attributed the increase in sales to the refurbished shops, additional counters and an online and card payment system.
The online sale, introduced this time as a pilot project, from one outlet each in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode touched over Rs 10 lakh, he said.
There are 301 government-run liquor outlets across the State. Last year, the government increased the price of liquor by 10-35 per cent to get extra revenue.
Currently, the sales tax on IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) is 237 per cent for brands priced up to Rs 400 and 247 per cent for those above that price.
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