Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Jul 8: The government of Karnataka which is facing a severe shortage of funds in its treasury due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has received one more jolt in the form of the huge reduction in the sale of liquor, which is one of the important revenue generators for the state.

The liquor sales are down by a whopping 33.22% in Karnataka after the initial hype when the lockdown was lifted. The number of alcohol consumers has reduced considerably due to COVID-19 pandemic. While on one end people are scared to come out of their houses on the other, many have given up consuming liquor.

The government had expected revenue of Rs 20,950 crore from the sale of liquor in the budget of 2019-20. Till June 2019, it had amassed Rs 5,760.14 crore. Similarly, in the 2020-21 budget, the proposed revenue from the sale of liquor was Rs 22,700 crore. However, till June 2020 the earnings from the sale of liquor is only Rs 1,913.38 crore. This means that there is a reduction of 33.22% in the revenue compared to the same period last year. Compared to the total expected revenue of the budget of 2020-21, the reduction is 16.95%.

In the fiscal of 2019-20, till the end of June 2019, 152.38 lac boxes of liquor was sold. In the present fiscal, the sale has gone down to 100.76 lac till the end of June. Compared to last year, the sale has gone down by 51.62 lac boxes, which means there has been a reduction of 33.88%.