© GRAPHIC NEWS
© GRAPHIC NEWS
BUSINESS
India alcohol consumption
April 12, 2017 - While most of India’s 1.3 billion population are lifetime abstainers, per capita intake has increased from 1.6 litres in 2005 to 4.6 litres in 2015 and rural consumption has surged to more than 11 litres a year.
From April this year, the recent Supreme Court banned the sale of alcohol within 500 metres of national and state highways. The court cited statistics showing drunk driving is one of the leading causes of India’s 1.5 million annual road fatalities.
Only three in 10 of India’s population consume alcohol, but those that do drink mostly consume whisky, rum, vodka and other kinds of spirits — so-called Indian Made Foreign Liquor or IMFL.
Link to National Mental Health Survey
The 2015-16 National Mental Health Survey estimated that between 50 million and 70 million people in India — up to one in 20 — have drinking problems or suffer from depression.