New Year fete drives liquor sale to new heights in Hyderabad, Rs 658-Cr in three days

HYDERABAD: Liquor lovers drank alcohol like fish in Hyderabad during the three days leading to the New Year’s fete. In just three days the liquor shops sold 4.76 lakh cases of liquor of various kinds and 6.31 lakh cases of beer worth Rs 658 crore.

While permission to sell liquor in events even after midnight helped to set a new record, liquor shops raked up a moolah of Rs 313 crore on December 30, 2023 alone. On December 29 the total sale was Rs 179 crore. Last year it was Rs 254 crore on December 30.

On Sunday, December 31, 2023, two lakh cases were lifted from the Telangana State Beverages Corporation (TSBC) depots by the afternoon. The excise department hoped for a cumulative sale of Rs 750 crore during the last three days leading to the New Year but it fell short of the target by Rs 100 crore.

TSBC sold 2.72 lakh cases of beer wine and hard liquor on December 28, 3.58 lakh cases on December 29 and 5.8 lakh cases on December 30.

Only two women caught in drunk drive

Out of the 1,243 cases booked for drunk driving on the night of December 31, 1,239 were men, two were female and two were others. Chandrayangutta PS arrested more male drunk drivers than any other police station in the city. At the same time, 688 men in the age group of 19-30 years were arrested followed by 324 men in the 31-40 years age group.

Out of the 1,243 DD cases booked, two-wheeler riders topped the list with 1,066 cases followed by 135 four-wheeler drivers. The DD drive that started at around 9 pm on Sunday saw a slow increase of cases that peaked at around 11 pm-12 am and slowly tapered down by the early hours of the New Year.

There were only 15 cases at 8-9 pm, 96 at 9-10 pm, 243 at 10 pm-11 pm, 265 at 11 pm-12 am, 209 at 12 am-1 am, a moderate increase at 238 DD cases at 1 am-2 am, 150 at 2 am-3 am and only 27 cases at 3 am-4 am on New Year Day.