Odisha sees 11.8% growth in excise revenue in 2024 fiscal; foreign liquor sale on rise

Excise Minister Prithviraj Harichandan on Saturday informed that Odisha registered a steady rise in the sale of alcohol in 2023-2024 financial year as compared to the previous year.

Informing the Odisha Assembly about the development, the Minister in a written reply detailed the volume of liquor of different categories consumed in the state during the financial years.

Analyzing the figures, it could be noted that the sale of foreign liquor increased by a whopping five lakh forty-one thousand liters in the state.

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The observation was made after the Minister’s statement read that (approx) 5.83 crore liters of foreign liquor were sold in the 2022-23 financial year. However, the sale surged to (approx) 5.88 crore liters in 2023-24.

Similarly, beer sales surged from (approx) 12.9 crore liters in 2022-23 to (approx) 15.35 crore liters in 2023-24, an increase of (approx) 3.26 crore liters.

Besides, the demand for country liquor has also increased from (approx) 84.37 lakh liters of country liquor sold in 2022-23 to (approx) 98.43 lakh liters in the next financial year.

It is pertinent to note that these statistics were recorded before the new excise policy of the Odisha government came into effect on September 1, 2024. As per the new laws, no new FL ‘ON’ liquor shops will be opened in the current financial year, along with several restrictions on dance bars.

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However, in the same address, the Excise Minister also noted that excise revenue also saw significant growth, reaching approximately Rs 7,217 crore in 2023-24, compared to Rs 6,455 crore in 2022-23.