30% spike in liquor sales; industry feels strain on pipeline, asks permission for more shifts

Faced with 20-30 per cent spike in demand after liquor sales were allowed from Monday, the alcoholic beverages industry is asking state governments to allow them to operate more shifts at distilleries.

Industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) and the All India Brewers' Association (AIBA) said refilling stocks at retail outlets is a major challenge under the current circumstances due to several issues in supply chain and labour shortage.

Spirits manufacturers, however, termed long queues outside liquor stores, as people in different parts of India braved the blazing sun, rains and even hailstorms in some parts to get hold of booze, a "temporary" phenomenon due to pent up demand.

They also welcomed the Chhattisgarh government's move to allow only home delivery of liquor through online sales but at the same time cautioned against the 70 per cent hike in duty on alcohol products by Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government.

Commenting on liquor sales which were allowed from Monday, CIABC Chairman Director General Vinod Giri said sales of around Rs 70 crore were reported in Karnataka as the vends reopened after a gap of almost 40 days. "This is more than two to three times the normal sales."
"It (production) takes more time than starting retail sales, where the stock was pending and all you have to do is just pull the shutter up and start selling."
When asked about the crowd at stores, he said, "In Delhi, it would come down soon, because of additional tax while in the other parts of the country it is already almost normal. It would take 15to 30 days to restore production and supplies."
Overall, if you ask, it would not affect to recover the lost sales by more than 5 to 10 per cent because on trade which is 70 per cent of the business is still shut. Still, not many outlets are open."