Bala Chauhan By Express News Service BENGALURU: At a time when there is sluggish growth in various sectors of the economy, the State Excise Department has registered an 8.64% growth in the sale of alcohol across Karnataka between April 1 and August 19 this year as compared to 4.76% increase last year. There is also a 10.20% growth in its revenue this year, sources in the State Excise Department told The New Indian Express. “The cumulative revenue of the department as on August 19 this year is Rs 10,245.27 crore as against Rs 9,296.60 crore for the period last year. The sale figures with the department show that the consumption of alcohol has gone up from 256 lakh cases (cartons) of Indian Made Liquor (IML) between April and August, 2018, to 278.29 lakh cases in the same period this year. One case contains approximately nine litres of alcohol. With the onset of the festive season starting with Dasara, there is bound to be an increase in consumption of alcohol and excise revenue,” a senior excise officer said. The revenue target for the department is Rs 20,950 crore for 2019-20 as against Rs 19,750 crore for 2018-19. The department has attributed a “reasonably good” growth in excise revenue to “increased enforcement to stem out all illegalities, primarily smuggling of alcohol from outside Karnataka, especially from Goa, where excise duty is lesser,” a senior officer said. However, a major chunk of the contribution to the increase in liquor consumption and excise revenue comes from the consumers of the lowest maximum retail price (MRP) segment, sources added. Surprisingly, while there has been a growth of 8.64 per cent in IML consumption, beer consumption has gone down and has registered a negative to meagre growth of 3.19% till August end. “Beer sales may have nosedived because of the increase in the additional excise duty (AED) on beer (bottle) from 150 to 175% last year during the tenure of the coalition government and the police crackdown on pubs and bars over alleged illegalities,” the officer added. Bengaluru registers 75-80% of beer sales in the state followed by Mangaluru and Udupi. Between April and November 30, 2018, there was a 13% increase in the sale and consumption of beer in comparison with the sales in 2017.

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