''God''s own country'' turns ''tipplers'' haven''

Mumbai: 'God's own country' is now the 'tipplers' haven' with liquor sales in Kerala vaulting 20 per cent to touch an all-time annual high of Rs3,000 crore even before the financial year ends.

Total sale of India made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer touched Rs2,556.30 crore in the first 10 months of 2006-07 and was expected to scale to Rs3,000-crore mark by March-end, according to figures provided by Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC). In 2005-06, the corporation recorded a total sale of Rs2,635.81 crore.

"Increased sales means higher revenue for the exchequer. Till January, KSBC had contributed Rs1,910.97 crore to the exchequer against Rs1,659.97 crore in the last fiscal," its managing director N Sanker Reddy said.

The state-owned KSBC has the monopoly over retail sales of IMFL as the arrack ban is in force since mid-1990s.

Liquor sale in the state, mostly through 355 retail outlets, touches its peak during the Onam, Christmas and New Year celebrations, reflecting the increasing acceptability of drinks for social occasions among all classes of the society.

While the soaring liquor sales are helping to ease the government's cash crunch to a certain extent, social and religious forums, including the Gandhian outfits, view the trend with grave concern as the long-term material and moral losses would be much higher than the short-term monetary benefits the roaring liquor trade brings to the state's coffers.