In the financial year 2024-25, residents of Prayagraj purchased liquor worth a whopping ₹1,233.92 crore — that’s about ₹102.70 crore every month. Despite this massive consumption, the district fell short of the excise department’s ambitious sales target of ₹1,445.70 crore.
According to official data, beer led the way in popularity, with sales amounting to ₹570 crore. This was followed by English (IMFL) liquor at ₹430 crore and country liquor at around ₹250 crore.
Most of the liquor was sold in the trans-Ganga region, followed by city limits and then the trans-Yamuna areas.
Interestingly, the Maha Kumbh event in February alone saw liquor sales hit ₹113.72 crore — including ₹48.31 crore worth of country liquor, ₹44.83 crore of English liquor, and ₹18.95 crore of beer.
When comparing volume, the year saw a significant rise in beer and country liquor sales. Beer sales jumped to 2.74 crore litres from 2.32 crore litres the previous year. However, English liquor saw a drop from 1.83 crore litres to 1.01 crore litres, while country liquor consumption more than doubled from 94.37 lakh litres to 2.11 crore litres.
District Excise Officer Sushil Kumar Mishra noted that overall liquor sales slightly surpassed last year’s figures, which stood at ₹1,233.50 crore — a modest increase of ₹42 lakh year-on-year.
