Hyderabad/Amaravati,  The New Year celebrations in Telugu states saw liquor sales of nearly Rs 300 crore.

In Telangana, tipplers guzzled liquor worth Rs 172 crore in a single day, while in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, New Year liquor sales netted an estimated Rs 124 crore for the state treasury.

According to sources, this is only the preliminary estimates and the final figures could be higher.

In Hyderabad and in the rest of Telangana, the authorities had extended the timing for pubs, bars and liquor shops, which further contributed to the jump in sales.

The Prohibition and Excise Department of Telangana permitted licence holders of bars, licensees of event permit managements and in-house licensees of Telangana Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) to serve liquor up to 1 a.m. on the intervening night of December 31, 2021 and January 1, 2022.

Relaxing the rules, the government also allowed liquor shops to sell booze till 12 midnight of December 31. Hyderabad and neighbouring Ranga Reddy districts recorded the highest sales.

In December, Telangana earned a record Rs 3,459 crore from liquor sales. According to officials, the liquor sales during December 2020 were Rs 2,765 crore. For the entire 2021, liquor sales in the state are expected to be Rs 30,222 crore.

The Excise Department recently approved 104 more shops and 159 bars in Telangana. The state presently has 2,220 liquor shops and 1,500 pubs, bars, restaurants and tourism hotels.

Andhra Pradesh too extended timings for bars and liquor shops and availability of premium brands at retail shops led to massive sales on New Year eve.

The government of Andhra Pradesh also earned record revenues of over Rs 12,000 crore from liquor sales in the first eight months of 2021. For the entire calendar year, the sales are expected to touch the Rs 20,000 crore-mark.

The YSR Congress Party government in Andhra Pradesh has come under criticism over the increase in liquor sales. The opposition parties have questioned the government's commitment for total prohibition in phases.

The state government, which is the sole wholesaler and retailer of liquor, has claimed that the consumption of liquor has come down over the last two-and-a-half years. It also claimed that it stands by its word to impose prohibition.