Hyderabad: The liquor and beer sales across the State registered an upward trend during this Dasara festival as well with the wine shops registering high sales on Saturday and Sunday.
Anticipating high sales, the wine shop owners in Telangana placed indent in advance and procured liquor and beer stocks from 19 Indian Made Liquor (IML) depots including two each in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts.
While liquor sales registered a growth rate of 26.13 per cent, beer registered only 10.14 per cent, generating a sale value of 1,057 crore on October 11, 2024. As many as 10.4 lakh liquor and 17.60 lakh beer sales were registered on October 11 with a sale value of Rs.1,057 crore, registering a growth rate of 26.13 per cent and 10.14 per cent, respectively, according to records of Prohibition and Excise department.
Karimnagar stood in the top place with over 58,221 liquor and 1.38 lakh beer sales followed by Nalgonda with 92,316 liquor and 1.51 lakh beer sales.
Though the liquor and beer sales registered an increase this festival season, the beer sales in at least five districts in the State slipped into minus, leaving excise officials surprised. The consumption of beer is predominantly high in Hyderabad given the previous festive season records but this time the trend has changed as the Hyderabad I and II, Khammam, Medchal-I, Nalgonda and Yadadri depots registered less beer sales.
The major reduction in beer sales was seen in twin cities with Hyderabad-I and II liquor deports registering minus 10.79 per cent and minus 6.15 per cent growth rate respectively on October 11.
A shop owner from Jubilee Hills seeking anonymity said the beer sales in Hyderabad registered dip whenever it rains heavily in the city. “Most customers won’t prefer chilled beer when it rains and this might have led to dip in sales,” he explained, adding that sale of liquor and beer went up significantly on Sunday.
