HYDERABAD: Telangana’s thirst for alcohol can be measured by the minute, literally.Between April and July this year, the state sold an estimated 5,200 bottles of beer and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) every minute, according to calculations based on excise department sales data analysed by TOI.Of these, around 3,600 were liquor bottles and 1,600 beer bottles.Over the four months, the state recorded approximately 3.5 crore cases of beer and IMFL, with the combined sales value touching nearly Rs 14,668 crore.Beer accounted for around 2.21 crore cases, while IMFL contributed approximately 1.29 crore cases.But the case count masks the real volume of bottles moving through the market. Once the different pack sizes are factored in, the four-month sales translate into approximately 91.5 crore bottles, equivalent to nearly 28.4 crore litres of alcoholic beverages.That works out to roughly 1,600 litres every minute, around 980 litres of beer and 635 litres of IMFL.The monthly numbers show a clear seasonal pattern, particularly for beer.Overall alcohol sales worked out to about 5,100 bottles a minute in April, rising to nearly 5,500 in May and 5,400 in June, before falling to around 4,850 a minute in July, coinciding with the onset of the monsoon.Beer saw the biggest swing. Sales rose from approximately 1,600 bottles a minute in April to 1,800 in May, before easing to around 1,700 in June and dropping further to roughly 1,400 in July.
Decoding Telangana’s booze boom
Cos in low spirits over rents, taxes on unsold liquor cases
Around 35,000 cases of liquor and beer lying unsold in Telangana Beverages Corporation Ltd (TGBCL) depots every month attract ground rent and, in applicable cases, recovery of the balance 70% excise duty, according to industry sources.While companies pay ground rent ranging from 1.5% to 13.5% depending on how long the stocks remain in storage, they have sought relief from the levy of the balance 70% excise duty on damaged, worn-out and short-supplied stocks.Under the existing system, liquor companies supply their products to TGBCL, which acts as the wholesale distributor and sells them to retailers.According to industry sources, companies initially pay 30% excise duty to the govt while supplying the stock.Once the retailers lift the stock from TGBCL depots after paying the remaining 70% excise duty and other applicable taxes, the 30% duty deposited by the companies is refunded to them.According to industry sources, stocks lying in TGBCL depots do not attract any ground rent for the first 90 days.If they remain unsold beyond that period, companies have to pay ground rent of 1.5%. The levy rises to 6% after 180 days and further to 13.5% if the stocks continue to remain in the depots for more than 300 days.Sources said that once the 300-day period is crossed, TGBCL identifies the long-pending stocks and writes to the companies asking them to either take them back for reprocessing or give consent for draining out the liquor.Industry sources said companies opting for drain-out are required to pay the balance 70% excise duty on such stocks.The excise department’s stand, according to the sources, is that the duty would have accrued to the govt had the stock been sold to retailers.The companies have also opposed recovery of the balance 70% excise duty on short-supplied stocks.They said that if a supplier commits to deliver 100 cases but supplies only 90, the remaining 10 cases are also treated as liable for the balance 70% excise duty on the premise that the govt has lost the revenue it would have earned had those cases been sold through retailers.Companies have contended that such recovery is unwarranted as the stock was never supplied to TGBCL or sold in the market.They have similarly sought relief from the levy on damaged stocks.
