The Dakshina Kannada excise department has been selling around 40,000 fewer liquor boxes each month since April. With a monthly target of two lakh boxes of Indian Made Foreign Liquor, the district is missing nearly 20–25% of its goal. Officials attribute the shortfall to a slowdown in major economic activities, including fishing, laterite quarrying, sand mining, and cross-border liquor sales to Kerala.
A liquor shop owner with outlets in Mangaluru and near the Kerala border said low-cost liquor sales once contributed heavily to revenue, with labourers from fishing, sand, laterite, and agriculture forming the core customer base. “Fishing activity ended early last season and has only just restarted. Later, sand mining slowed, and laterite quarrying was banned. These setbacks will take at least another month to recover from,” he said.
Excise deputy commissioner M. Srinivas confirmed that halted labour-intensive industries have reduced revenue. Heavy rainfall has also stalled tourism, further impacting demand.
Data shows Puttur and Sullia taluks recorded the steepest declines. Between April and July last year, Puttur sold 1,39,646 boxes, but this year the figure dropped to 1,26,439. Sullia sales fell from 72,184 to 66,976 in the same period.
A bar owner near Talapady added that shrinking price differences between Karnataka and Kerala liquor have deterred cross-border customers, who once accounted for over 30% of Dakshina Kannada’s sales.