BANGALORE: It was truly a ‘Happy New Year’ for the Karnataka Excise Department as the build-up to the December 31, 2011, celebrations saw the sale of 93,495 cases of Indian Made Liquor (IML) and 89,500 cases of beer on just two days (December 30 and 31, 2011).The city’s revellers, who had been stocking up for the innumerable number of parties, outdid last year’s figures by nearly 10 per cent. According to officials, the Excise Department raked in a staggering Rs 38 crore in just one day (December 31, 2011). “All across the state, the month of December saw a total of nearly 44 lakh cases of IML and 18 lakh cases of beer being sold,” Sannabathappa, Joint Commissioner (Excise) said. He told Express that this rise in numbers took the revenue this December to Rs 733 crore as against the Rs 689 crore last year. He said the rise in numbers was common due to the festivities of New Year and other festivals in the month of December.Earlier, Excise Commissioner Arvind Jannu said the department, which had targeted a revenue of Rs 9,200 crore for 2011-12, may surpass this figure. He said that on the last three days of the year (December 29-31), the city was gulping down an average of about 35,000 cases of IML and about 25,000 cases of beer. He added that they would see a rise in the revenues next year as well, as the department has come down hard on illicit liquor distribution centres. “We have ensured that 84 out of the 170 taluks and 11 districts in the state are completely free of illicit liquor distribution,” he said.Added to this, the department has given a provision of opening over 480 MSIL shops, of which 280 centres had already opened and were functional.“The opening of such MSIL shops are not just to ensure safe liquor but also to make sure that MRP is adhered to,” Jannu explained.1 case = 9 litres (Approx)
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