THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the UDF is yet to untangle the knotty bar hotel controversy, Excise Minister K Babu told the Assembly on Monday that liquor sales had shot up phenomenally in the state ever since the 418 bars were shut down three months ago.
During this period, the revenue from the outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Ltd (Bevco) has shot up by `225 crore, and the agency remitted Rs 160 crore by way of tax to the State Government.
“The 333 bar hotels that are functioning at the moment have registered an increase in sales by 84 per cent. Bevco sales have gone up by 25 per cent,” Babu said in reply to a question by K Muraleedharan .
The minister’s reply has come at a time when the United Democratic Front is facing a tricky situation with KPCC chief V M Sudheeran adamant that the licences of the 418 bars should not be renewed. According to him, the closure of the bars has had a positive effect on the state. To another question in the Assembly, Babu said that so far no inspection had been carried out to ascertain whether substandard bars were functioning in the state at present or whether there were bars with adequate standards among the 418 ones lying closed.
The Excise Department, he said, had now decided to provide staff manning Bevco outlets with an extra allowance of `100 on a daily basis. This has been decided taking into consideration their increased workload and the fact that they were having to work longer hours after the bars were closed down.
Cess on Liquor
The Bevco has remitted a total of `78.89 crore to the State Government by way of the `1 medical cess on liquor, the Excise Minister said.
In 2012-2013, between August 16 and March 31, Bevco paid `26.2 crore. This rose to `44.03 crore in 2013-14.
This fiscal, up to May, the Corporation has paid Rs 8.66 crore, he said.
