State Alcobev industry pours out woes

Leading industry associations representing the alcoholic beverages sector – the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI), the Brewers Association of India (BAI), and the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) – have collectively stated that the Alcobev sector in Telangana continues to reel under a tremendous financial crisis. This situation is attributed to the worsening payment backlog from the state government for liquor and beer supplies delivered to the state-owned wholesaling corporation.

The industry bodies have warned that this crisis can only be averted if the state government clears its old outstanding payments by November 10. Should the state fail to meet this deadline, the associations stated that the industry may not be able to fulfil supply demands in December 2025.

The associations highlighted a critical contradiction: while the sales of alcoholic beverages and corresponding revenue collections surged in October 2025, riding high on festive demand, the payments released to suppliers actually fell by almost 50 per cent compared to the preceding four months.

In October 2025, the heads of all three major industry associations repeatedly met senior government officials, including the Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister. They were reportedly given assurances that the state would commence releasing payments and clear old outstandings on a priority basis, specifically those for the period May 2024 to August 2024, which have been outstanding for over a year. Despite these assurances, the associations jointly noted that there has been hardly any progress in settling the dues. The payment situation, they pointed out, turned for the worse in October 2025.

While Rs 484.58 crore was released until October 15, 2025 (including Rs 350 Crores for the May 1st to May 15th 2024 period), no payment has been released since then.

As a result, the total overdue outstanding amount now stands at a staggering Rs 3,366.21 Crores, which includes Rs 1,959.72 Crores pending specifically for the May to August 2024 period.

The industry reiterated that the failure to clear these old outstandings by November 10 could severely jeopardise the continuity of supply, potentially leading to shortages across the state during the critical month of December 2025.