Kolkata, Oct 20 (IANS) The West Bengal government earned a record revenue of Rs 550 crore from the sale of liquor during the recently concluded Durga Puja in the state.
The revenue came from alcohol worth Rs 720 crore that was lifted from the warehouses of the state’s sole liquor distributor, the West Bengal State Beverages Corporation Ltd (Bevco), between October 1 and October 12. The warehouse remained closed for three days on October 13, 14 and 15 for Durga Puja. The stock was mostly sold at the time of Durga Puja.
Giving a detailed break-up, the state government officials said that around 1.46 crore litre of country spirit, 37.93 lakh litre of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 43.74 lakh litre of beer were lifted by the retailers between October 1 and 12.
Usually, liquor worth around Rs 1,300 crore gets lifted from Bevco’s warehouses in a month. In August this year, liquor worth 1,306.86 crore was lifted.
“There was business of Rs 451 crore in the first 12 days of August, which went up to Rs 720 crore in the month of October on account of Durga Puja. The excise revenue generated out of liquor sale between October 1 and 12 was around Rs 550 crore,” said a senior state government official.
According to the officials, the highest sale of Rs 108.87 crore was registered at the Bevco warehouse on ‘Tritiya’, October 9. On ‘Panchami’, October 11, a sale of Rs 91.54 crore was registered. Though it was a Sunday, the warehouse was open on October 10 because of Puja and a sale of Rs 57.58 crore was registered on that day.
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