No Alcohol For 9 Days In West Bengal? Liquor Ban Triggers ₹1,400 Crore Loss

Ahead of the upcoming election, authorities in West Bengal have enforced an extended ban on liquor sales. As a result, the state is heading into an unusually long dry spell, with nearly 10 ‘dry days’ across parts of the state. Read on to know more about the development.

West Bengal Bans Liquor Sales

Traditionally, a ban on liquor sales comes into effect 48 hours before voting to prevent voter inducement. But this time, the authorities have made advanced restrictions. The voting in the state is scheduled for April 23, and all the liquor shops in the areas have already shut well ahead of the standard timeline.

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As per a report by Moneycontrol, the Election Commission of India (EC) stated in a statement that there has been an “unusual spurt” in alcohol sales across the state. The Commission also added that the findings emerged from multiple monitoring exercises. In total, authorities have seized over ₹427 crore worth of cash, liquor, drugs and other freebies in the state during the Model Code of Conduct period. Data highlighted a sharp rise in the lifting of packaged liquor from depots in April 2026 compared to last year. Authorities also noticed an increase in the number of sensitive liquor shops.

Reason For The Liquor Ban Extension

The data places West Bengal among the states with the highest value of election-linked seizures, reflecting the scale of suspected malpractice. Additionally, officials have seized more than 31.9 lakh litres of alcohol valued at ₹81 crore, making it one of the most important components of the overall haul. This raised major suspicions that alcohol could be stocked and used for voter inducement. To stop such actions, authorities opted for stricter, pre-emptive enforcement, effectively stretching the ban window. Post the closure of liquor shops and their sale, the economic impact is already becoming quite evident.

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West Bengal is home to around 5,000 bars and retail liquor outlets and records daily sales of around ₹80-90 crore. As per a report by The Times of India, industry estimates suggest that losses could exceed ₹1,400 crore during the shutdown, with Kolkata alone facing around ₹900 crore of it.

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