Hyderabad: Rising temperature has trumped the effect of rise in prices of beer in the state, with guzzlers gulping down the brew at a faster rate in March. The overall effect was a 30% increase in sales (50.78 lakh cases) of the frothy beverage in March this year as compared to the same period last year (39.05 lakh cases).The overall liquor sales in Telangana exhibited a robust performance in March, primarily fuelled by a significant increase in beer consumption. This rise comes in contrast to the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) segment, which saw a slight decline in sales volumes during the same period.The growth in beer sales follows a prior period of decline influenced by the price hikes.On the other hand, IMFL sales experienced a minor decline, dropping to 30.67 lakh cases from 31.46 lakh cases, which amounts to decrease of 2.5%. Notably, despite the mixed trends in volume performance, the overall value of liquor sales for the month increased significantly, rising to Rs 3,485 crore from 3,126 crore, indicating an 11.49% growth. The sales momentum reached a peak on March 31, the last day of the financial year. The total sales value surged to Rs 410.87 crore, compared to just 63.86 crore on the same day the previous year, showcasing an extraordinary year-on-year increase of 543.3%.In terms of cases on March 31, IMFL saw a striking rise, climbing to 3.66 lakh cases from a mere 0.61 lakh cases the previous year. Similarly, beer sales for that day also experienced a notable increase, reaching 4.38 lakh cases compared to 0.9 lakh cases the year prior, which represents a significant growth of 386.67%.Industry experts attributed this surge to heavy summer that peaked earlier in the state and a preference of beer over IMFL.
