Telangana rains: Liquor sales fall by 55%

HYDERABAD: The incessant rains over the past few days have taken a toll even on liquor sales in the state with revenue from liquor falling by 54.9 per cent till date in September.
Traders and excise officials attribute the dip to commuting problems as roads are flooded and badly damaged. "Commuting has become so difficult that people cannot step out.Most areas, especially in Hyderabad city, are inundated and vehicular traffic has become hell. This is the resaon behind the slump," said D Venkateswar Rao, president of Telangana Wine Dealers Association.
The excise department has collected Rs 287.7 crore through liquor sales in the month till September 22. This is against the budget estimation of Rs 637.96 crore for the month, while revenue collected in September last year was Rs 418 crore.
"Many factors might have resulted in the fluctuation in revenue collection, and one major factor could be fall in sales due to unprecedented rains," said Ajay Misra, revenue principal secretary (excise). The revenue collection through liquor sales has recorded a healthy 20 per cent on an average per month till August end.
"There has been a good growth rate till August, hovering around 20 per cent. Situation in September seems to be different which we need to analyze after collecting data. We will be in a position to clarify on this by first week of October," said Misra.
While the overall target for the current 2016-17 fiscal year is 4,318 crore, the excise department collected Rs 2,044 crore as revenue till August end this year. This was against Rs 1, 704 crore collected between April and August last year.