Dehradun: Liquor sales soared in Uttarakhand during the last week of Dec, with alcohol worth Rs 66 crore consumed, according to data from the state excise department. Revenue from New Year’s Eve alone touched Rs 14.3 crore. Officials said that this revenue includes license fees, permit fees, import duty, and excise fees.
“From April 1, 2024, to Jan1, 2025, the Uttarakhand excise department generated over Rs 3,353 crore, nearly Rs 200 crore more than the previous year,” a senior official said, adding that the year was strong for revenue growth. TOI earlier reported that Nainital and Dehradun districts had the highest demand for liquor licenses.
Dehradun district excise officer Prabhat Shankar Mishra said, “By the evening of Dec 31, a total of 202 new one-day licenses were issued in the state, with Nainital leading at 92, followed by 55 in Dehradun, 18 in Pauri, 14 in Haridwar, 12 in Tehri Garhwal, eight in Almora, and three in Udham Singh Nagar.” These districts also contributed significantly to revenue.
The department said that license norms were stricter in the capital this year due to recent mishaps and subsequent administrative crackdowns. The largest quantities of alcohol consumed on Dec 30-31 included 3.3 lakh litres of imported foreign liquor, nearly one lakh litres of country liquor, and 92,000 litres of beer.
The department has set a revenue target of around Rs 4,500 crore for this year.
