The Hindu
 
Mangalore, Apr 7: The Mangalore depot of Karnataka State Breweries Corporation Ltd has done well after the arrack was banned in the State. The sale of Indian Made Liquor (IML) in Dakshina Kannada, including the sales from Puttur depot, increased to 14.38 lakh cases in 2007-08 from 7.45 lakh cases in 2006-07.

Shubhakar Ajiri, Mangalore depot manager, told The Hindu that people had to switch over to the cheaper quality of IML. The sale of 7.45 lakh cases achieved in 2006-07 included the sales done in the first three months of that fiscal when arrack was being sold through government licensed arrack shops.

The ban on arrack sale came in to force from July last. "The sale of IML in the district has been steady ever since," he said. Consumption of liquor was not restricted to IML alone. There was a good demand for beer as well in the district, he added. As many as 7.57 lakh cases of beer were sold in 2007-08 from 6.27 lakh cases in the previous year. Stating that the sale of beer was high during summer, especially from March to May, he said the sale was routed through retail outlets in the district. On IML sales, Mr. Ajiri said that it was more in the four months from October to January. "It drops during February but picks up well in the remaining months," he said.

On reasons for this variation, he said it was related to religious beliefs and practices.