THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC-India) has claimed that there was a considerable decline in alcohol consumption in the state over the years. ADIC-India director Johnson Edayaranmula said the statement of the excise minister to the contrary was untrue as there was 34.27 percent drop in consumption in the state over the last three years. Mr Edayaranmula said in a statement that sales and consumption of absolute alcohol made a huge dip of 34.27 percent (3,50,23,943 litres) during the past 36 months from April 2014 to March 2017.
The aggregate annual drop in alcohol sales is 11.42 percent. The biggest drop during the period was in IMFL with a huge drop of 8,65,60,876 litres of volume liquor which accounts for 3,89,52,395 litres of absolute alcohol. This was the outcome of the closure of 730 bars, and 70 retails outlets. He also said that though beer and wine sales increased during 2015-16 with the opening of 815 beer and wine parlours, it dropped by 34,10,014 litres (2.78 percent) in 2016-17. Wine sales also came down.
