J&K prefers 'desi whiskey' to IMFL, beer

The state witnessed the record sale of 397.35 lakh bottles of liquor in the first 11 months of the current financial year, as per official figures released by the State Excise Department.
Out of this, 171.08 lakh bottles of desi whiskey were sold to consumers, as against the 127.16 lakh bottles of beer and 99.01 lakh bottles of IMFL, the data revealed.

"More middle class and lower class people drink desi whiskey due to its lower costs than IMFL, so the consumption is more in this category," an official of the State Excise Department (SED) told PTI.

During the April, 2010-February, 2011, period, J&K residents guzzled down 15.62 lakh more bottles of liquor than the whole of the 2009-10 fiscal, when they drank 381.73 lakh bottles. The increase amounted to 90.69 lakh bottles when compared to the purchase of 306.66 lakh bottles of liquor in the 2008-09 financial year.

A revenue of Rs 19.39 crore was earned by the government from the sale of liquor in 2009-10, compared to Rs 13.59 crore in 2008-09, they said.