The State government does not intend to go back on its decision to allow the production of low-alcohol beverages from fruits, Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan informed the Assembly on Wednesday.
Their production would, in fact, help to bring down consumption of hard liquor, he said in a written reply to the House.
The decision to allow the production of low-alcohol liquor and wines was taken on the basis of a recommendation made by the Assembly Subject Committee VII (Economic Affairs) and a consequent report submitted by the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), the Minister said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Development of such value-added products from fruits, including cashew, mango, jackfruit and banana, would serve to enhance the income of farmers, Mr. Ramakrishnan said.
Moreover, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) were already selling beer and wine which were low in alcohol content, he said.
The State government had issued orders on October 26 for amending the Abkari Rules for enabling the production and marketing of low-alcohol liquor from fruits.
ADVERTISEMENT
To a related question, the Minister said that consumption of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), excluding beer, has risen by 2% each in 2016-17 and 2017-18 over the previous fiscal and by 4% in 2018-19 over 2017-18. Beer sales, on the other hand, witnessed a 5% rise in 2018-19 over the previous fiscal. But sales had dipped by 23% in 2017-18 over 2016-17.