THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As many as 17 companies have evinced interest in supplying foreign-made wine and foreign-made foreign liquor (FMFL) to the state-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco).
The deadline for submitting bids having ended, Bevco officials said, the foreign-made liquor and wine will hit the market in the first week of May.
“Nine companies have placed bids for supplying FMFL and eight for foreign-made wine,” said Bevco managing director H Venkatesh. “We hope to start selling the new products by May 1 or 2.”
According to him, Bevco is eyeing a hike in its annual liquor sales revenue in the range of `50-100 crore. IMFL sales revenue in 2017-18 stood at Rs12,929.05 crore against Rs12,134.14 crore the previous year.
“But we can say something definitely about revenue only after analysing the sales for the first six months or so,” he said.
Initially, FMFL will be sold through the 50 or so self-help, premium outlets of Bevco started to woo buyers of high-end Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) brands.
Ultimately, FMFL brands will be available at all Bevco outlets.
The government agency is planning to have special sections at its existing outlets for displaying the new products.
The LDF Government had green-lighted the proposal to sell FMFL and foreign-made wine through Bevco and Consumerfed outlets in the 2018-19 state budget.
Foreign-made beer has not been given the go-ahead yet.
Bevco had invited bids for the supply of FMFL from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. The deadline for submitting bids was March 22, but it was extended up to April 10.
A number of bureaucratic procedures remain before Bevco can start selling FMFL.
This includes certain amendments to the Abkari Rules to enable the sale, clearance by the technical committee and Bevco board after which orders can be placed before suppliers.
At present, Bevco sells IMFL beverages whisky, brandy, rum, gin and vodka, in addition to beer and wine.
Rs 50-100 cr
The spike in annual sales revenue that Bevco
expects from the sale of foreign-made foreign liquor