Kerala Bevco records sale of liquor worth Rs 50 cr on World Cup final day

Kerala tipplers celebrated football World Cup final by contributing about Rs 50 crore to the state's coffers by purchasing liquor

Tipplers in Kerala celebrated the football World Cup final held in Qatar on Sunday contributing around Rs 50 crore to the state's coffers by purchasing liquor.

The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC), also known as Bevco, registered a sale of around Rs 50 crore on December 18, more than the usual Rs 33 crore to 34 crore, collected on Sundays.

Bevco CMD, Yogesh Gupta said around Rs 15 crore additional revenue came on last Sunday.

However, this does not include the details of sale of liquor from private bars.

"It was a Sunday and the World Cup final match might have also contributed to the increase in revenue," Gupta told PTI.

He said the corporation expects over Rs 600 crore sales during the upcoming Christmas holiday season for ten days starting from December 21.

During the last Onam season, the Bevco collected Rs 624 crore registering a record sales from September 1-7.

Thousands of Malayalees across Kerala celebrated Argentina's penalty shootout win over France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final held on Sunday night in Qatar.

Meanwhile, multiple cases were also registered against numerous people on Sunday night mostly due to drunken brawls including attack on police officials.

There are 301 government-run liquor outlets across the State.

In November, the state government had decided to increase the sales tax on liquor levied under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963, by four per cent. It had also decided to forgo the five per cent Turnover Tax (ToT) levied on distilleries which are manufacturing and selling foreign liquor within the state.

Currently, the sales tax on IMFL (Indian Made Foreign Liquor) is 251 per cent for all brands.