GHAZIABAD: Holi was celebrated in high spirits in the city this year, if the excise department data is to go by.In the week preceding the festival of colours, the excise department earned over Rs 39 crore from the sale of liquor in Ghaziabad. From March 1-7, some 5.94 lakh litres of country-made liquor, 3 lakh litres of India-made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and 5.17 lakh litres of beer were sold.”Last year, Holi was celebrated on March 18 and the total revenue collection from liquor sales in the month of March was Rs 79 crore. This year, in just seven days, we earned a revenue of over Rs 39 crore,” said RK Singh, district excise officer.The excise department had not complied last year’s liquor sale data in the week preceding Holi, but that this year’s data is enough to prove that over 50% of revenue was generated between March 1 and March 7 as against that of the entire March last year, according to the district excise officer.”The consumption of liquor this year before Holi could be anywhere between 2.5 and 3 times as compared to the week before Holi in 2022,” he added.This year, from the sale of country-made liquor, the excise department earned a revenue of over Rs 13 crore from March 1 to March 7. Similarly, the sale of IMFL fetched a revenue of Rs 18 crore and beer Rs 8 crore, according to the data.If this data is to be compared with that of last year’s for the entire March, 13.74 lakh litres of country-made liquor were sold and a revenue of Rs 31 crore earned. Likewise, 5.28 lakh litres of IMFL was consumed in March last year in which Rs 30 crore of revenue was earned and the sale of 12.96 lakh litres of beer accounted for Rs 18 crore.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ghaziabad/in-high-spirits-liquor-worth-rs-39-crore-sold-in-week-before-holi-in-ghaziabad/articleshow/98554117.cms
