In a relief for the state government, which has been grappling with the lack of funds and resources, the decision to re-open liquor vends has led to an inflow of around Rs 1,250 crore to its coffers.
Liquor shops in the state had been closed down in the run up to the lockdown enforced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, relaxations were granted from May 4 onwards and wine shops were gradually allowed to operate across Maharashtra.
State Excise Commissioner Kantilal Umap told the Free Press Journal that the department has collected around Rs 750 crore as excise duty and another Rs 500 crore has been generated as sales tax.
Every month, the department gets an average of Rs 1,200 crore as excise duty, and Rs 800 crore is earned as sales tax. State excise is the third-highest contributor to the state exchequer after Goods and Services Tax (GST), stamp duty and registration charges.
“A significant chunk of liquor consumption takes place in permit rooms, which have been allowed to sell bottles for off-consumption only. Though wine shops can operate, outlets in containment zones cannot be opened. In Mumbai and parts of the metropolitan region, wine shops can only offer home delivery of liquor,” an official explained.
While Maharashtra sells around 3 crore bulk litres (BL) of country liquor per month, just 1.60 crore BL was consumed in May because of the exodus of migrants from cities and economic distress. Sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) dropped from 1.78 lakh BL per month to 1 crore BL. However, the sharpest fall is seen in the consumption of beer, which was just 1.24 crore BL in May compared to the average of 3.64 crore BL.
“Beer sales peak in the summer. However, the case differed this year owing to the pandemic. Since only home delivery by retail outlets was allowed, many youngsters, who usually drink beer in permit rooms and restaurants, could not consume it. These factors affected the demand for beer,” an official said, adding that however, liquor consumption is expected to rise gradually.
Maharashtra has 1,685 wine shops, 4,947 beer shops and 4,159 country liquor vends, of which around 1,446, 3,477 and 2,957, respectively, are operational.
In the 2019-20 financial year, the state excise department earned revenues of Rs 15,428 crore against the Rs 17,977 crore target.
