Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has decided to permit new liquor manufacturing units even as it asserts that its avowed aim is to motivate people to 'quit liquor'.
The state government has granted permission to Sreedharan Breweries Private Limited to set up a beer manufacturing unit with a capacity of five lakh cases of beer per month in Varam, Kannur district.
This is the third beer-manufacturing unit in Kerala. Beer production units are running in Palakkad and Thrissur now.
The government order points out that the brewery at Kannur has been cleared since 40 per cent of the beer consumed in Kerala is imported from outside the state, and because the unit has the potential to provide jobs to quite a number of people directly and indirectly.
The excise commissioner had also recommended the setting up of the brewery, since it could fetch additional tax revenue for the government. The deputy excise commissioner at Kannur had submitted a feasibility report about the project a month ago.
According to data, the revenue of the Beverages Corporation had been on the rise, despite a cut in the number of liquor outlets. The corporation had an income of Rs 11,024 crore in 2017-18, while it was Rs 10,353 crore in 2016-17. The increase within a year had been Rs 671 crore.
In 2016-17, the corporation sold 205.41 lakh cases of liquor and 150 lakh cases of beer. In 2017-18, the sale of liquor was 208 lakh cases while that of beer was 115 lakh cases.
The LDF government has granted permits to 86 new bars since it assumed power in May 2016. According to the estimates available as of May-end, 21 applications for license have been received by the excise commissioner.
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