Are you still reeling under the Holi hangover? Looks like there are many more people like you who spent the festival of colours in utmost spirits. If reports are to be believed, Delhi saw a record-breaking sale of alcohol ahead of Holi. Since, March 8, 2023 - the day of the festival - was declared a dry day, all liquor shops were shut. So people hoarded alcohol for the celebrations in advance. On March 6 alone, more than 26 lakh bottles of liquor, amounting to INR 58.8 crores were sold in the capital city!
The revelation was made by the excise department and was reported by TOI. The sale amount beat all the sales records of last year, even New year's Eve. In fact, the first week of March leading up to Holi saw a steep rise in the sale of alcohol. March 1 began with the sale of over 15 lakh bottles, moving up to 22 lakhs on March 5, and a staggering 26 lakhs on March 6, which broke all records. It is being reported that March 7 also witnessed a high sale volume of at least 20 lakh bottles.
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Holi 2023 saw people going all out to celebrate.
Reportedly, the excise department earned INR 6100 crore from the sales, including INR 5,000 crore from excise on liquor bottles and 1,100 crores as Value Added Tax (VAT).
To sum it up, more than 1.13 crores of liquor bottles worth INR 238 crores were sold right before Holi.
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The consumption of liquor has increased manifold post-Covid-induced lockdown. Now that people are stepping out and meeting each other for special occasions more than ever, large-scale revelry on Holi was imminent. And we don't blame the tipplers as Holi is synonymous with fun, food and drinks. Beer, in particular, is popular on this day, and that's why most liquor shops were out of prominent beer brands during the last few days before the festival.