People in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar district, adjoining Delhi, gulped down 2.3 lakh litres of alcohol worth Rs 9 crore merely on the night of December 31 on the occasion of New Year's Eve, an Excise official said on Monday.

Alcohol, consumed on the eve of New Year, included country-made liquor, foreign liquor, and beer.

Gautam Budh Nagar's Assistant Excise Commissioner R.B. Singh said that the sale of liquor in December 2022 alone was 23 per cent more than last year. In December 2022, the people of the district consumed liquor worth about 139.6 crore.

The reason cited behind this is believed to be the effect of the curbs being lifted after two years of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Singh said that the record-breaking sale has come as a huge boost for the Excise Department.

There are about 550 liquor shops in Gautam Budh Nagar.

The Excise Department also cracked down on the sale of illegal liquor, in which action has been taken at 82 places in December and 2,512 liters of liquor have been seized.

On the New Year, people partyed at 82 other places which were given occasional licence from one day to three days, due to which the revenue has increased and the consumption of liquor has increased a lot.

According to the data received from the Excise Department, these 82 establishments had applied for an occasional license from one day to three days. Considering all the standards, the Excise Department collected the revenue by taking a fee of Rs 11,000 for one day. The Excise Department has received revenue of more than Rs 10 lakh by giving occasional licenses.

-