Illegal liquor: Consumption may be up, but deaths show the opposite trend

India has a higher per capita consumption of illegal liquor than most countries in the neighbourhood

The news of 70 deaths due to the consumption of illegal liquor in Bihar shocked the country recently. This number is nearly a tenth of the country's total deaths from illegal liquor in 2021. India had shown a rising trend in "unrecorded" alcohol consumption even before the imposition of prohibition in Bihar in 2016.

While it is true that Indians drink less alcohol per capita than the world average, they are increasingly consuming more alcohol available outside authorised sources. Even amongst its South-Asian neighbours, after Myanmar, Indians drink more unrecorded alcohol -- described as alcohol that is not taxed and