Beer Lovers in Mangaluru Face a Hard Choice as Karnataka Plans Price Hike

Mangaluru : With the Karnataka state government considering a price hike of 5-15% for Indian beer and 20-25% for foreign brands made in India, Mangaluru—often regarded as Karnataka’s second-largest beer-consuming city—is bracing for a shift in drinking habits. As summer sets in over the next week, demand for chilled beer is expected to surge, but the looming price increase might temper the enthusiasm of beer lovers. Some regulars are already contemplating a switch to hard liquor as an alternative.

Mangaluru’s pub culture, deeply intertwined with the city’s coastal lifestyle, has long made beer the preferred drink among youngsters and working professionals. However, with rising costs, many fear that their casual beer outings might soon become a luxury. “Beer was our go-to drink because it was affordable and perfect for Mangaluru’s humid weather. If prices go up, we might have to cut down or look for stronger alternatives,” said a local beer enthusiast.

According to industry sources, Karnataka's move to increase beer prices is aimed at boosting state excise revenue. Beer, traditionally seen as a lower-taxed alcoholic beverage compared to spirits, has gained popularity due to its affordability and social acceptability. However, the proposed price revision might alter consumer preferences, with some turning to cheaper alternatives like locally distilled spirits.

Pub and liquor shop owners in Mangaluru anticipate a shift in sales patterns if the price hike is implemented. "We expect a drop in beer sales initially, but hard liquor sales might see a spike as people look for cost-effective options," said a liquor retailer.

As the summer heat intensifies, beer consumption in the city typically rises, with bars and beachside shacks seeing a significant uptick in customers. But with the proposed price hike on the horizon, Mangaluru’s ‘beer drinking buddies’ might soon have to rethink their beverage of choice.

On the weekends and late evenings, the border areas in Karnataka-Kerala are hyperactive, and vehicular traffic is on the increase. There will be movement of people even during the late hours and villages dotting the 46-kilometre border that the Karnataka state shares with the Kerala state.

It is not only ordinary mortals but also people in high places who have also started coming to Mangalore for their daily ‘quota’ and the pressure on the border towns in four taluks, including Mangalore, Puttur, Sullia, and Buntwal was already being felt. “Liquor had always been a costly affair in Kerala; even before the regulation of bars in Kerala, people used to frequent the Karnataka border towns and villages to visit their regular watering holes; they found it cheaper, easily available, and no big brother watching over their shoulders while they indulged in liquor tourism,” said Prakash Shetty a bar owner in Thokkuttu, which is just 8 kilometres from the Kerala border. Liquor shops all along the 46 kilometres have been making a roaring business.

Karnataka had been a favourite watering hole for Kerala people, even before the Kerala government decided to cancel licenses of over 400 bars in the state reducing the liquor business only in top-class hotels and the Kerala Liquor and Beverages Corporation. In the neighbouring Kasaragod district, there are only two liquor outlets with classy restaurants where no common man can enter and have his fill.

Both states shared their border with four taluks of Karnataka: Talapady in Mangalore, Vittal in Buntwal, Adyanadka-Eshwaramangala and Kumbra in Puttur and Sulliapadavu in Sullia taluks These towns are accessible to the tipplers from Kerala within 15 to 20 kilometres from the district headquarters Kasargod and other towns like Uppala, Udma, Manjeshwar, Hosangadi, Kumble, and various villages. A few innovative petty businessmen used to carry liquor from Karnataka and vend it in various villages, “But they have not been lifting their usual quantity of IML (India Made Liquor) as the excise department had been tightening the nuts and bolts of the illegal supply of liquor from across the border, but nobody can stop the liquor tourists from crossing the border and having their fill,” said Sunil Poojary, a bar owner in Vittal in Buntwal taluk. It is also true that the liquor dealers in Mangaluru, Buntwal, and Sullia taluks were lifting more IML and beer regularly, and their Kerala counterparts do business with them, confirmed officials of the Karnataka State Beverages Corporation.

Officials in the Excise Department in Mangalore told Hans India “It is an expected development; it has been happening everywhere there is prohibition or restrictions on consumption and selling liquor. There will be a marginal increase in the sales of the Karnataka liquor market, but it is hard to say if it will make a great impact, and we are not sure if the liquor lifted from our channel goes into Kerala.”. The officials, however, said they have held many ‘liquor transporters’ from Goa via Karnataka on many occasions.

*The bar owners in the border areas say they often get government officials, businessmen, students, professionals, and sometimes even TV serial actors and musicians from Kerala in their taverns.