India's Little Known Billion Dollar Firm

We had written about India's little known billion dollar firm before - Kerala, a state in India that is called "God's Own Country", has one stat that would surprise anyone: Keralites have consumed alcohol worth over Rs 50,000 crore (Roughly 10 billion USD) in the past ten years - much more than Kerala's annual budget. In fact, over 40 per cent of the total revenue collection to the exchequer comes from the sale of liquor. (Source)

Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BevCo), the State-owned monopoly bootlegger, is set to make a sales turnover of more than Rs9,000 crore (roughly 1.7 billion USD) this fiscal from sales of India-manufactured foreign liquor (IMFL), beer and wine, registering an increase of over Rs1,200 crore over last year’s figure. (Source)

Why is this a noteworthy stat? Try this: Kerala is home to 2.76% of India's people and accounts for 16 percent of the total sale and consumption of liquor in the entire country. (Source 1, Source 2)