MUMBAI: The sale of all kinds of liquor has seen a surprising decline in the island city this ongoing financial year. The Mumbai island city is the only one of Maharashtra’s 36 districts to see a constant drop in sales thanks to a decline in population and consequently in the number of liquor shops, bars, restaurants and pubs serving liquor. Meanwhile, the overall sales in the state registered a rise of 6.6% until January 31 as compared to sales in the corresponding period last year.
From April 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025, the sale of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) registered in the state stood at 267.7 million bulk litres as against 248.2 million bulk litres from April 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, a reported increase of 7.84%. During this ten-month period in the current fiscal year, 317.8 million BL of beer was sold as against 296.1 million BL last year, registering a rise of 7.32%. Country liquor sales increased by 5.16%, as 335 million BL were sold until January 31 as against 318.5 million BL last year. The sale of wine has, however, witnessed a drop by 1.92%—8.774 million BL were sold until January 31, down from 8.606 million BL the previous year.
Against the sizable increase in the overall sales in the state, the island city recorded a dip of a whopping 7.1%. Although sales of IMFL registered a rise of 1.84% (from 11.8 million BL to 12 million BL this year), the sales of beer dropped by 0.29% from 15.096 million BL last year to 15.052 million BL this year. Wine sales dropped by 28%, from 0.554 million BL last year to 0.524 million BL this year. Similarly, country liquor sales too dropped by 1.81 %, from last year’s 8.01 million BL to 7.919 million BL this year.
“Liquor sales in the island city (from Colaba to Mahim) have been showing a reversing trend in the last few years owing to various factors,” said an official from the excise department. “The business district has lost its shine, and the number of restaurants, bars, pubs are dwindling every year. Liquor shops too have been shifted to suburban areas in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Since we do not issue new licences, the existing licences are shifted out of the island city by holders for better business. Youngsters in the island city prefer suburban bars/pubs.”
While there has been negative growth in liquor sales in the island city, Mumbai suburban, Thane, Palghar and Raigad (largely the area of MMR) have reported substantial growth. The cumulative growth for the region for IMFL is 6.04%, beer 6.37% and country liquor 3.24%. Wine sales in MMR, however, recorded a drop of 4.78%.
The cash-strapped state government has set an excise collection target of ₹30,500 crore for the financial year ending on March 31, against which the collection reported so far is around ₹19,500 crore. According to officials, the target is unlikely to be achieved. “Against a target of ₹23,300 crore, revenue collection from excise duty was ₹25,500 crore last year,” said the officer. “This year’s target is 31% more than last year’s collection, and the growth cannot be that high.”