Kerala church producing 1 lakh litres of wine | Mathrubhumi

Thiruvananthapuram:  The details of wine production license given to church denominations in Kerala were made public.

Various church denominations have the license to produce 95, 412 litres of wine in an year.

It is to be noted that wine has more alcohol content than beer and toddy. However, the church denominations have said that they are producing wine with less alcohol content.

The details of the wine production license given to church denominations have come out at a time when discussions on opening of liquor outlets on highways are heating up.

Altogether, there are 24 licences to the church denominations in various districts. The church can produce around 28,050 litres of wine in Kottayam district only.

While 16,000 litres can be produced in Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam can produce 13410 and 13077 litres of wine respectively.

The Thiruvananthapuram CSI diocese and Changanassery diocese have the license to produce maximum wine.

Both the diocese can produce 10,000 litres each. Various church denominations have the license to produce 95,412 litres of wine in one year.  Setting aside foreign liquor that has an alcohol content of 42.86 percent.  Wine has more alcohol content than beer and toddy.

While beer and toddy have an alcohol content of 6 and 8.1 per cent, wine has alcohol content from 8 to 15.5 per cent.

The bar owners had alleged that there is a contradiction in the stand taken by the church against the liquor outlets on highways, as the church themselves are involved in large-scale wine production.

However, the church denominations say that they are producing wines under the Cochin mass wine rules of the Excise act. They also said that this wine is used for conducting mass and has low alcohol content.