Kerala State Beverages Corporation sees 30 per cent rise in daily sales

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With long holidays for government and public sector establishments from Saturday, there has been a steep increase of over 30 per cent in the sale of the liquor through retail outlets of Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco). Owing to the increasing sales and the huge cash collections during bank holidays, it has even sought police protection at retail outlets. There are also special arrangements with some banks at some places.

KSBC managing director H. Venkatesh said the usual total daily sales at the 270 Bevco retail outlets was Rs 27 crore to Rs 30 crore. But during the last couple of days, it was in the range of Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crore. The major chunk of the sales is from Indian Made Foreign Liquor, followed by beer and wine. The 25-odd premium counters and self-service counters are also witnessing brisk sales. The sales at the 270 outlets range from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.

"We are also carrying out inspections to check malpractices at the stores," he said. It has now sought the help of the police stations to provide security. "Though many retail outlets have safety lockers, those are not sufficient to store the collection during the Onam days. Hence we made an arrangement with police stations at many places to keep the cash," said Mr Venkatesh. Bevco staff will keep the cash in sealed trunks and hand it over to the police. KSBC had also made arrangements with banks at some places to function on some holidays to accept the daily collection temporarily.