Hyderabad Bought Alcohol Worth ₹25 Cr On Day Lockdown Was Announced

Mumbai: Close to ₹25 crore worth of alcohol was sold in Hyderabad on Tuesday when the 10-day lockdown was announced by the Telangana government, The News Minute reported.

According to market watchers, liquor shops within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) sold liquor worth around Rs 25 crore on Tuesday. Most of the sales were recorded after the lockdown was announced.

According to the Telangana Wine Dealers Association, while there are 460 outlets within the GHMC limits, the state has a total of 2,400 outlets. While shops within the GHMC range reported an average sales of Rs 5 lakh on a daily basis, on Tuesday, sales of Rs 15 lakh were recorded on average.

“By the time we closed our shops on Tuesday, almost 90% of the stock had been sold. 10% includes premium brands that successfully sell very easily. The period of panic continued from Wednesday morning. We had to sell from the remaining 10% stock because we haven’t replenished the stock yet after yesterday’s sales,” said a wine shop owner on the condition of anonymity.

While a huge crowd was seen in most shops after the lockdown was announced on Tuesday, in the evening, the excise department directed all the shops to put on board that liquor shops would be open from 6 am to 10 am during the bandh in the state.

During the 24-hour period that ended at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Telangana reported 4,801 new COVID-19 cases and 32 deaths.

Out of the new infections, Hyderabad reported 756 cases whereas Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri logged 325 and 327 cases, respectively.

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