KOCHI: With a total size of around Rs 20,000 crore, Kerala contributed about 16 per cent of the total alcohol consumption, including hard liquor, beer and wine, in the country. But God’s Own Country is slowly slipping from its position of ‘Booziest State’ in the country as the overall alcohol consumption has reduced by 20.27 per cent in the past 18 months due to the new liquor policy of the state government. This simply means a revenue loss of over Rs 4,000 crore to the total business.
Kerala State Beverages Corporation has registered a gross sales value of Rs 10,012.80 crore in 2014-15. The actual sales of alcoholic beverages in the state comes to double of this value.
Alcohol sales and consumption were showing a constant annual growth during the past 30 years with gross revenue increasing from Rs 55.46 crore in 1984-85 to Rs 9,353.74 crore in 2013-14.
Toddy (7.9 – 8.1 per cent), Distilled Spirits - FL and IMFL (40 – 75 per cent), Country Liquors, Beer (2.5 -7 per cent), Wine (7 – 15 per cent) and Illicit Brew are the types of alcoholic drinks available in the market.
As the Supreme Court gives a thumps up to the liquor policy of the state government, the liquor market in the state will witness an erosion in size to the tune of Rs 900-1,000 crore annually. This is because 10 per cent of the beverages outlets will pull down their shutters.
“The alcohol industry in Kerala was registering an annual growth between 12 and 67 per cent during the past 30 years. The IMFL sales in Kerala during the past 18 months dropped by 5,37,24,258 litres (24.92%), the highest drop ever recorded anywhere in the world. This has been realised by the closure of 730 bar hotel restaurants and reducing of around 70 beverages and consumer-fed retail outlets in the State. But beer sales registered an alarming increase of 5,42,71,620 litres, while the wine sales increased by 16,53,480 litres in the State. This is due to the licensing of 730 new beer-wine parlours in the State since April 2015,” said Johnson J Edayaranmula, Director, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre-India.
“After implementation of the new liquor policy, there has been a slow yet steady shift towards beer. The maximum alcohol content in beer is only 8 per cent, whereas it is 42.5 per cent in hard liquor. With the new policy, Kerala is emerging as a beer and wine market,” said Shobhan Roy director general All-India Brewers’s Association.
Liquor stocks trip on Supreme Court nod to Kerala govt policy
Mumbai: Liquor stocks fell by up to 3.2 per cent after the Supreme Court today upheld Kerala government's policy restricting issuance of bar licences to five star hotels only. Shares of Empee Distilleries went down by 3.20 per cent, Pincon Spirit lost 3.05 per cent and Tilaknagar Industries fell by 2.75 per cent on the BSE. Similarly, United Spirits dipped by 2.69 per cent and United Breweries fell by 0.71 per cent.