According to wine dealers in Telangana, the new state is witnessing a huge drop in liquor sales. A whopping 30 per cent dip in the sales of alcohol is believed to be recorded by Telangana Wines Dealers Association (TWDA) between August and November. This is said to be a huge dip considering sales in previous years. Especially the sale of Indian-made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) has hit rock bottom after Telangana state is carved out. At the same time, TWDA is worried over the reimplementation of toddy sales which is expected to eat out the sales of cheap liquor.

Going into details, 70 per cent of IMFL manufacturers are based out of Telangana whereas 70 per cent of sales and consumption is in Andhra Pradesh region.
For beginners, there are 2200 wine shops in Telangana whereas 6700 in undivided Andhra Pradesh. The gap between production and sales is said to be cause behind this ironic situation. At the same time, few brands operate from AP and now the stock of those brands are not available in Telangana due to inter-state taxation as companies are not ready to bear export and import duty that cut their marginal profits.

Already brands like Bagpiper, Old Monk rum, Mc Dowell’s (MC) rum and MC Brandy are “out of stock” in Telangana as the distilleries of these particular brands are in Seemandhra.Talk is that companies are contemplating to tie up with local distilleries on both sides and increase the MRP in order to compensate the inter-State taxation and duties. However, it’s still in nascent stage. Excise and prohibition department is mum on the issue.