Festive 'spirit': At 3.87 crore bottles, pre-Diwali liquor sales set new high in Delhi

New Delhi: Liquor sales in the national capital in the fortnight leading to Diwali set a record with over 3.87 crore bottles sold, mopping up a revenue of Rs 447.62 crore for the excise department of Delhi government, officials said on Saturday.

From October 15 to October 30, a whopping 3.87 crore bottles were sold from the liquor stores run by four corporations of Delhi government, including 2.98 crore bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 89.48 lakh beer bottles, official figures showed.

Diwali celebrated on October 31 was a 'dry day', meaning all liquor stores were closed across the city on that day.

On Diwali eve on October 30, a total of 33.80 lakh bottles were sold, yielding a revenue of Rs 61.56 crore, according to the data.

As compared to last year, 1.18 crore more bottles were sold in the fortnight leading to Diwali this year, from 2.69 crore in 2023 to 3.87 crore this time.

Emerging from the shadows of the disruptions caused due to the withdrawal of the 2021-22 liquor policy, the excise department has earned a revenue of Rs 3,047 crore in the first half of the ongoing financial year (April-October 2024), a growth of around 7 per cent as compared to the same period in 2023 when liquor worth Rs 2,849 crore was sold, officials said.

The total excise revenue, including VAT, earned between April and October 2024 stood at Rs 4,495 crore as against Rs 4,188 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, said a senior excise department official.

"These figures are despite the hiccups in the ESCIMS software in September and transition to the eAbkari system in October. Revenue flow is being steadily streamlined and scaled up," the official said.

The retail liquor business took a hit in the national capital after a new excise policy launched by the Delhi government was withdrawn in July 2022.

Under the policy, private operators were running liquor stores in the capital city.

The liquor trade was impaired for many months as the economy was facing a slowdown due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic before the retail sale was handed over to government corporations.

Excise officials expect improved sales and revenues in the months to come with the department's functioning coming back on track with the posting of a new excise commissioner.

The post was lying vacant for many months since the previous commissioner, KM Uppu, was transferred to the New Delhi Municipal Council in December last year.

Recently, Ravi Jha, a 2011 batch IAS officer, took charge as the excise commissioner of Delhi.