Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, May 15: Though lockdown is imposed in the state due to the rise of a second wave of infections of coronavirus, it seems that this has not made any difference to the liquor lovers of the state. The liquor business is running as usual.

Liquor shops are allowed to open from 6 am to 10 am only. The average sale during lockdown period is 1.6 lac boxes. During the non-lockdown period it was 1.7 lac boxes. This means that there is not much fall in the demand for liquor. One box of IMFL liquor consists of 8.64 litres and one box of beer contains 7.8 litres.

During normal days, the excise department used to earn an income of Rs 65 crore per day. Now it has come down marginally to Rs 55 to 58 crore. The main reason for this fall is the closure of pubs, bars and restaurants.

Speaking to the scribes, excise minister Gopaliah said, “Last year during the first lock down, we had closed all liquor shops for 53 days. Then there was a huge crowd outside the wine shops when they opened in May 2020. This is not right as crowding of people will cause more spreading of coronavirus. So this time around we have given four hours of time for liquor business. This will ease the crowd. Once the situation returns to normal, we will allow liquor shops to function as usual.”

The minister also said that for the fiscal 2020-21 state excise department had a target of Rs 22,700 crore of revenue. That is accomplished. This year the target is Rs 24,580 crore. Our department officials are striving hard to reach this target.