Gautam Budh Nagar recorded its highest ever liquor sales revenue of ₹16.52 crore in the financial year 2022-23, officials of the excise department said on Tuesday, adding that this figure is ₹3 crore more than the earnings of fiscal 2021-22.

According to the data available with the department, residents in the district consumed 43,453,083 cans of beer, 12,557,840 bottles of IMF,L and 19,347,874 litres of countrymade liquor in the last fiscal.

In fiscal 2021-2022, the district consumed 29,128,563 cans of beer, 11,208,709 bottles of IMFL and 15,179,701 litres of countrymade liquor and recorded revenue of ₹13.46 crore. In 2020-21, the revenue stood at ₹10.19 crore, said officials.

“The revenue of the excise department has always been on the rise since the past 20 years. However, in the fiscal that ended, we have been able to achieve 90.37% of our target of ₹18.28 crore set by the state excise department,” said RB Singh, district excise officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

He said the district is aiming to achieve higher sales in the current fiscal. “Last year, the new excise policy of neighbouring Delhi affected our revenue adversely as consumers were going to the national capital to buy liquor as the rates were cheaper there. However, after the excise policy was rolled back, liquor sales once again picked up in Gautam Budh Nagar. In the current financial year, we are hoping to achieve a higher revenue that even exceeds our target,” said Singh.

He said in order to ensure that excise revenue does not dip, the department has to ensure that liquor is not smuggled into the district from other states and duty-paid liquor is being sold at liquor stores in the district.

“While the excise department does not do sales promotion of liquor in the district, our department carries out regular crackdowns on smuggling of illicit liquor and periodic inspections of liquor shops to ensure that duty-paid liquor is being sold to customers,” said Singh.

In order to boost sales, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet on May 23, 2020, approved the Uttar Pradesh Excise (Settlement of Licences for Premium Retail Vends of Foreign Liquor) Rules, which mandates the sale of premium liquor brands in shopping malls, department stores and supermarkets.

The state excise department in March 2020 also issued licences for the operation of microbreweries.

“There are five microbreweries in the district currently while the licence of a sixth one is under process. There are a total of 535 liquor shops in the district and 103 outlets in the district which are running of annual bar licences. In the year 2022-23, 22 new bar licences were issued in Gautam Budh Nagar,” said Singh.