Tirupati eyes ambitious sales

Never mind the shrunk sale timings, and a 20 per cent hike in MRP, it’s still a high for the government

With a huge floating population, Tirupati has always been considered a cash cow and a ‘fetching market’. For the Department of Prohibition & Excise that is, and notwithstanding the ‘sacred’ tag attached to the temple city. It’s easy buy for tippler visitors to the city as many of the outlets are located close to the railway station and central bus station areas. The new rule implemented in the State is unlikely to change anything much, either the contours of the excise district or sales figures.

The Tirupati Excise District consists of Tirupati Urban, Tirupati Rural, Srikalahasti, Pakala, Satyavedu, Nagari, and Puttur circles. Even in the new regime, the number of State-run retail outlets in Tirupati Urban remains the same at 44, though the other circles witnessed a 20 per cent fall, as mandated by the government’s new policy to move towards total prohibition.

Free flowing

Though the government has removed targets for the department, the demand is unlikely to fall. As such the department will be in a position to make available adequate supplies in line with the demand in the urban circle. The daily sale to liquor outlets in Tirupati Urban circle alone is a staggering ₹40-45 lakh. "This figure touches ₹70 lakh when the offtake to bars is included," Dheeraj Reddy, Excise Inspector of Tirupati Urban Circle told

The Hindu . The decision to retain the number of outlets, without slashing the mandatory 20 per cent is made, keeping in view the generally high demand within the corporation limits, where population density is high.

Latecomers go dry

Earlier, the outlets used to remain open from 10 am to 11 pm, which has now been revised to 11 am to 8 pm. As the revised timings are yet to sink into among a majority of the consumers, there was palpable friction on the first two working days in front of some outlets. Guzzlers who casually arrived after 8 pm were in for a rude shock to find the outlets closed. "Some of them not only demanded an explanation, but also wanted the outlet opened again to serve the customers," laughed A. Subramanyam, who runs a soft drinks kiosk near the liquor outlet on Tilak Road.

The poorer sections among liquor consumers are unhappy with the rise in price of liquor. The Maximum Retail Price (MRP) has been upwardly revised nearly 20 per cent, which, many feel, will burn a hole in their pockets. As the 20 per cent hike almost nullifies the loss of sales, if any, resulting out of downsizing the number of retail outlets by 20 per cent, the government’s strategy appears to be not to lose revenue even in the shrunken market.