Raids boost city’s country liquor sales

Mumbai: The Thane (rural) police and excise department officials had launched a crackdown against illegal hooch dens and illicit breweries in the Mira-Bhayander region. After the crackdown, tipplers have been left with little choice but to buy their alcohol from licensed wine shops and bars, dispensing Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and government approved country liquor (desi daaru). The official figures from Thane district’s excise department reveal that there has been significant growth in sales volume of country liquor.

With a bulk sale of 5,64,465 litre, the twin-city has registered a 12 per cent spurt in the sale of country liquor between October and December last year, as compared to 5,03,094 litres during the corresponding period in 2016. The 12 per cent spurt is considered significant as against the single-digit growth in the last few years. Similarly, the bulk sales of IMFL has also experienced a 7 per cent rise between October and December  2017.  

According to the law enforcement agencies, the boom in liquor business is not just because of a wide consumer base, but also due to the continuous raids on illegal liquor manufacturing units in the twin-city. “Illicitly manufactured liquor is cheaper but poisonous, the upswing in sales is a cumulative effect of the measure taken to end illicit liquor trade, thus enhancing tax revenue for the state.” said excise inspector Abhijeet Deshmukh. “Over-the-counter sales of country liquor has recorded an unprecedented hike in the past few months,” confirmed Gopi Naidu of Lavesh Wines.