Liquor consumption down in AP due to phased liquor ban

VIJAYAWADA:The liquor policy of Andhra Pradesh, imposing prohibition in a phased manner, is showing good results. The consumption has come down last year as compared to the previous year.

The sale of IM liquor from April to December 2019 was 239.56 lakh cases as compared to 126.55 lakh cases in 2020. This meant a drop of 47.17 per cent. Sale of beer for the same period in 2019 was 186.36 lakh cases and it was 126.55 lakh cases in 2020, showing an 80.91 per cent dip.

The sale of IM liquor in December 2019 was of 25.88 lakh cases compared to 21.41 lakh in 2020, with a 17.27 per cent fall in sales. Sale of beer in December 2019 was 7.93 lakh cases compared to 6.14 lakh cases in 2020, showing a 22.57 per cent fall.

The sale of IM liquor on December 30 and December 31 in 2019 was of 96,330 and 1,37,669 cases respectively. It reduced to 81,087 cases on December 30, 2020 and 1,04,904 cases on December 31.

Similarly, sale of beer on December 30 and December 31 in 2019 was of 34,307 and 65,317 cases respectively and this has reduced to 22,263 cases on December 30, 2020 and 46,459 cases on December 31.

YSRC leaders said that, in Telangana, the sale of IM liquor and beer on December 31 was of 2.17 lakh cases and 1.56 lakh cases respectively. The state government has taken effective steps to bring down alcohol consumption by closing down the belt shops and permit rooms, hiking the prices and reducing the working hours.

The number of liquor shops was reduced by 33 per cent from 4,380 to 2,934 shops and 43,000 belt shops were closed. This action yielded good results, they said.