Why Alcohol Is Costly In India??

The intoxicating ingredient present in beer, wines, vodka, rum, spirits which directly attacks our brain and slows down our body system is the alcohol. It is something which is consumed to relax, celebrate and to socialize.

Around 400 million cases of spirits are annually consumed in India making it the second largest market by volume after China.

India's alcoholic beverages/liquor is heavily regulated by the government with high excise and taxes imposed on the companies. Hence it is an important source of revenue.

According to the survey, liquor sector is the second largest contributor of taxes to State Government exchequers. It yields more than 90, 000 crores in taxes every year.Liquor contribute to more than 20-25% of state revenue in most of the states in India.

The total tax impact for liquor companies are in the range from 70-150% in most of the states . There is no inter-tax set-offs that are available for them. Liquor alone constitutes 25% of food beverages in India and other countries such as China and US. Additionally, the import duties on foreign wines and spirits exceeds 150%, which makes them 3-5 times pricier in India than elsewhere in the world.

It can be rightly said that India is absolutely the most critical market of liquor and also No.2 market within emerging segment.

India is the 3rd biggest consumer of alcohol and far away the biggest consumer of whiskey!