THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), has sought extension of working hours of its liquor outlets, ahead of Onam. At present, the outlets are allowed to work between 9am and 5pm. Bevco MD Sparjan Kumar said the Bevco has given a proposal to the state government in this regard. “The extension of the working hours for a couple of hours will benefit the consumers and Corporation. But it is the state government which will take a final call on the matter,” he said. The proposal to extend the working hours from 5pm to 7pm was suggested for the liquor outlets of Bevco and Consumerfed. It is not applicable for bars and beer parlours.
Though the average per day collection of the Bevco is estimated at `41 crore during the pre-Covid period, a 20 per cent increase in the total liquor sale is expected during the 10 days starting from Atham to Thiruvonam. Liquor worth `487 crore were sold during Onam period last year, while it was `410 crore in 2018, `484.22 crore in 2017 and `450.01 crore in 2016.
When the liquor outlets were opened after the lockdown restrictions were eased in the state, the average monthly sale of Bevco outlets dropped to around `17 crore from the average sale of `28-30 crore during the pre-lockdown period. Also, the average monthly sales at bar, beer and wine parlours skyrocketed to around `31 crore from the average sales figure of `10-13 crore.
Though there is a big difference in the revenue of Bevco outlets and bars, there was only marginal drop in the total liquor sale. The increase in the share of bars was mainly due to the sharing of retail liquor sale business of Bevco outlets with the bars and beer parlours.
20% increase in the total liquor sale is expected during the 10 days starting from Atham to Thiruvonam
C41 crore was the average per day collection of Bevco during pre-Covid period