Rajasthan to brew more beer

Beer-brewing capacity in Rajasthan is set to increase because of the change in the retailing policy initiated by the state government since April this year.

Starting this financial year, the Rajasthan government moved over to a licence-based retailing of alcoholic beverages against the earlier auction-based system.

Though confirmation from state government sources was unavailable, industry sources said tax revenue collected from the sale of beer in Rajastan had increased to Rs 117 crore during the first six months of this financial year against Rs 55 crore collected during the same period last year. Tax collection from the sale of IMFL has also increased to Rs 156 crore during the first six months.

While the tax revenues from sales of alcoholic beverages had doubled during the first half of this financial year, existing breweries in the state are looking at expanding capacity, apart from the two greenfiled projects taking shape there.