The first Christmas New Year season after the closure of liquor bars in Kerala witnessed a boost in beer and wine sales. As expected, Government-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) has also reportedly had a huge hike in its sales.

The New Indian Express reports that the statistics for December released by Bevco recently show that wine sales shot up by 70.9 percent. In November, Bevco had sold 9,762 cases of wine (one case equals twelve 750 ml bottles). It went up to 16,684 cases during December.

When the sales were 8.97 lakh cases in November it was hiked to 12.21 lakh cases in December, an increase of 36.15 per cent.

Sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) have witnessed a hike from 15.08 lakh cases in November to 17.83 lakh cases in December. 

 Since the closed bars were converted beer and wine parlours the demand has increased.

NIE further reports that in past one year there have been a massive increase in beer and wine sales. Beer sales shot up by 95.8 per cent while wine sales rose by 131.7 per cent.