State's wholesale liquor sale in four days touches Rs 400 crore
Kolkata: The West Bengal State Beverages Corporation (Bevco), the state's sole liquor wholesaler, has witnessed
sale of liquor worth Rs 100 crore per day for four consecutive
days during Puja from its depots.
The last point sale that is by retailers (5,156 retailers including off and on shops) to consumers is to be calculated in the next two to four days time, but the daily sale turnover from depots of Bevco shoot up to Rs 100 crore per day from the day of Chaturthi to Saptami with retailers placing comparatively more orders.
The reason being the sale of liquor usually goes up during the festive season. Bevco depots remained closed for three days from the day of Asthami to Dashami. The excise revenue collection that was around Rs 1,000 crore in September is expected to go up to more than Rs 1,300 crore with the increase is sale during the festive season, said a senior official of the state Excise directorate. But, Rs 100 crore per day sale was recorded for 10 consecutive days at the corresponding period in 2019. "This year it was for four consecutive days. It seems that it was the fallout of the Covid situation this time. However, the sale value from depots of Bevco is good if compared with the present situation of the economy. Apart from the four days before the Puja that recorded Rs 100 crore sale, the usual sale from depots in October used to be of around Rs 30 crore to Rs 35 crore per day," the official said.
At present there are 21 depots of foreign liquor and beer of Bevco from where retailers collect their order that they place online along with making payment. There are two exclusive depots for
beer besides the 35 for country spirit across the state. The depot that mainly serves retailers in Kolkata is at Cossipore while there is another at Picnic Garden.
Bevco that was incorporated as a company under Excise Directorate in January 2017 ensures transparency in distribution and supply of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), Foreign Made Foreign Liquor (FMFL), Country Spirit (CS) and Beer. The entire system starting from the process of procurement to sale is online with a robust system that also carries out automatic demand forecasting.
