Illustration by Vivekanandan M

Among rural households surveyed by the NSSO, less than a tenth (7.7 per cent) reported country liquor consumption, though it was the most widely drunk liquor. For spirits, it was just 3.6 per cent, toddy 2.7 per cent and beer just 1 per cent. Adjusting the rural Indian average for households reporting consumption, The Hindu found that per capita consumption skyrocketed to 340 litres a year, over half of this being toddy. So while just 2.7 per cent of the rural households drink toddy, each drinker consumes an astounding half a litre a day on average — or more likely, large quantities at intervals.

Urban India drinks even less commonly — just 3.9 per cent of the households reported consuming spirits, 3.8 per cent country liquor and 2.1 per cent beer. Just a fraction reported consuming toddy. Adjusting for only those households that drink, The Hindu found that urban Indian drinkers consume 301 litres per person a year. Surprisingly, toddy is yet again the biggest drink in volume. Though just 0.3 per cent of urban households drink toddy, these drinkers consume over half of all the alcohol drunk in urban India — 156 litres per person a year.

Among the States, Andhra Pradesh is by far India’s biggest drinking State, with a consumption of 665 ml per person a week on average, or nearly 34.5 litres a year, across types of alcohol. Kerala is far behind, at 196 ml a week or just 10.2 litres a year. Moreover, the proportion of households reporting alcohol consumption in Andhra Pradesh is also high.

Income starkly affects alcohol consumption; in rural areas, toddy and country liquor consumption rises with class and falls only in the case of the richest 5 per cent, while beer and refined liquor rises with class. For urban areas, country liquor consumption falls as people get richer, while beer and refined liquor consumption rises exponentially.