South India is still the largest contributor to alcohol sales which is followed by the western and eastern states of the country.
The sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) increased by 14% to reach 385 million cases in terms of volume for the Financial year 2022-23. According to the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the sale of the premium segment of liquor which is priced at Rs 1000 per 750 ml has increased by 48% during this period. South India is still the largest contributor to alcohol sales followed by the western and eastern states of the country. Some states have also reported a decline in sales such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Telangana.
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The IMFL sales for this FY 2022-23 are 12 per cent higher than the pre-covid levels in FY 2019-20. Thus, it indicates that the effect of Covid has been diminished.
According to the report of CIABC, liquor sales for this financial year are expected to grow by 8%. So, the number of boxes is expected to reach an amount of 412-415 million boxes. “Higher price segments are growing much faster than the lower segments and the share of brands above Rs 500 per 750ml bottle is now at 20%,” the report read as quoted by CNBC. Whereas products above Rs 1000 are dominated by imported products and have reported 48 per cent growth.
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However, the share of Indian products in the premium category of alcohol which is Rs 1000 or above has increased from 18% to 20% in FY 23.
With this, the report also said that Whiskey accounts for 63% of the sales, hence becoming the top-selling liquor in India. Moreover, Gin sales have also grown in the last fiscal year.
CIABC Director General Vinod Giri said that the Liquor industry has faced an adverse impact due to Covid. “ After a slowdown for a couple of years, we are again on a fast sales growth path”, told PTI.
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Southern states are still the largest contributor to liquor sales accounting for up to 58% while the eastern and western states contributed 22% each. North India contributed 16% to the total sales while Punjab has a whooping 54% growth from the last year.
Despite the abrupt changes in Excise policy and the non-availability of various brands of liquor in Delhi, it has recorded a decent annual growth of 36% year-over-year.
