Kolkata: Call it winter cheer or the muted impact of the price hike, the state Excise department toasted to a 5 per cent jump in liquor revenue in December 2025 compared to the same month last year, even as higher prices kicked in from December 1, 2025.
The higher collections suggest consumers continued to spend on alcohol despite the price revision.
According to estimates of the Excise department, earnings from liquor sales stood at Rs 1,716 crore in December 2025, up from Rs 1,634 crore in December 2024. Officials project that by the end of the current financial year, the state’s revenue from liquor sales will register a 10 per cent increase over the previous fiscal.
Prices were revised in December for all categories of Indian-made liquor (IML) and Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), both of which are produced domestically but differ in style and pricing. The price of beer, however, remained unchanged. For IMFL, the price of a 180 ml bottle was increased by around Rs 10, while the hike for a 750 ml bottle ranged between Rs 20 and Rs 50. In the case of IML, prices were raised by around Rs 10 for both 350 ml and 600 ml bottles. While beer remains the highest consumed liquor in terms of volume, IMFL continues to generate the highest revenue. As per Excise department instructions, manufacturers, distributors and wholesale vendors cleared most of their existing stock by November 30. Any unsold stock automatically came under the revised duty structure.
From December 1 onwards, every bottle sold is required to carry a corrected maximum retail price (MRP) sticker reflecting the revised rates, a measure aimed at ensuring transparency for consumers.