Kerala liquor sales hit record high for Onam

The Onam festival season in Kerala is turning a bane and not boon. The alcohol sales on Monday touched a record Rs. 34.13 crore.

The Kerala State Beverages Corp (KSBC), the sole wholesaler of Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) and beer in the state, conceded that the sales was 49 percent more than what was sold on the first day of Onam festival last year.

"The pattern of sale is that the maximum sale is seen on the first Onam day, which is today (Tuesday), but as the first of the month is a dry day in Kerala, sales peaked yesterday," N. Sankar Reddy, managing director of Kerala State Beverages Corp (KSBC) told IANS.

According to Reddy, last year, on the first Onam day, there were sales of Rs.22.62 crore.

Reddy said only 17 shops sold liquor worth more than Rs.10 lakh the first Onam day last year, but Monday saw 85 shops crossing this figure.

"Our shop at Chalakudy (in Thrissur district) recorded the highest sale worth Rs.22 lakh, followed by the shop at Karunagapally (in Kollam district), with sales worth Rs.20.4 lakh," said Reddy.

Now, with Thiru Onam, the most important day of the festival falling on Wednesday, the KSBC is total expected to earn Rs. 200 crore, forty crore more than last year.

Over the past decade, churches in Kerala have been leading campaigns against liquor, which they say have been "destroying families and the future of children."

Kerala, which contains 19 percent Christians of the 32 million population is among the highest alcohol–consuming states in India.