Bengaluru
The liquor industry is grappling with the aftermath of a substantial 15% decline in sales, primarily attributed to the sharp escalation in prices. The surge in costs has prompted regular consumers of alcohol to either curtail their consumption or abstain altogether. This noticeable shift has dealt a blow to the Indian Made Liquor (IML) sector, though beer sales have remained relatively stable amidst the turmoil. The Karnataka State Beverages Corporation Ltd, responsible for regulating liquor sales, has borne witness to the repercussions of this trend on both sales and revenue. A significant downturn in sales figures has translated into a decline in revenue. Over the span of four months, the monthly revenue figures plummeted from a formidable Rs 2,500 crore to a mere Rs 962 crore in August. This plummet in revenue has been a gradual descent. The financial landscape in April witnessed an excise revenue of Rs 2,308 crore, followed by Rs 2,607 crore in May, a substantial Rs 3,549 crore in June, and a subsequent dip to Rs 2,980 crore in July. Comparing the figures from August of the previous year to the present, a stark difference emerges. Last year, around 25.50 lakh boxes of IML and 10.34 lakh boxes of beer were sold in August. In the current year, however, the numbers have dwindled to 21.87 lakh boxes of IML and 12.52 lakh boxes of beer. The root cause of this shift can be attributed to a sweeping 20% price increase across all 18 slabs of liquor pricing, as enacted in the recent budget.
