The liquor sales hit a record high in Telangana prior to the municipal elections. According to Excise department liquor worth Rs 961 crore was sold between February 1 and February 9. On an average Rs 100 crore worth sales happened each day.
In the beginning 8 days of February, Rs 881 crore liquor was bought. In the same period last year, Rs 672 crore sales happened. It means a rise of 31% in sales.
Rs 209 crore were transferred from the pockets of contestants in the first week of February. In fact, those who contested the municipal polls, used liquor as a means to attract potential voters. Due to election code, the liquor shops were closed between 5pm on February 9 to February 11 evening.
Prior to the shut down, large amounts of liquor was transferred to secret places and stocked in farmhouses belonging to leaders. Due to this, the liquor sales hit an all-time high.
On 7th February, the sales hit Rs 205 crore. On February 9, the sales were at Rs 173 crore. In fact, the impact of municipal elections could be seen from January onwards. Last year, in 2025, January saw liquor sales to the tune of Rs 2984 crore. This year, in January, the sales were at Rs 3325 crore.
In just one month, the sales increased by Rs 341 crore. If one sees the trend, the contestants supplied liquor mostly. 8.4 lakh liquor cases were distributed between February 1 and 9. Last year, liquor sales were at 6.29 lakh which means a rise of 34% this year.
On the other hand, the sale of beer cases was 12 lakhs last year and it fell to 9.5 lakh cases in 2026.
