Tipplers in Tamil Nadu have contributed more than Rs 300 crore to the exchequer during this year’s Deepavali holidays. The figures are significantly higher than last year.
Factfile
Chennai:
The revenue for the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), the monopoly agency to sell liquor in the State, per day (on an average) was between Rs 90 and 100 crore.
A senior official from Tasmac told DT Next on Wednesday that his department had set a total revenue target of Rs 300 crore through liquor sales between Monday and Tuesday for this Deepavali.
“However, as per the provisional figure, the sales touched Rs 330 crore on Tuesday night,” he added. Elaborating further, the official said on Monday, sales touched Rs 150 crore and peaked on Tuesday with Tasmac netting nearly Rs 180 crore.
According him, in 2017, Tasmac’s revenue on Deepavali day, which fell on a Wednesday, was only Rs 90 crore.
“Last year, the revenue was down due to the closure of about 3,000 liquor shops along highways as per the Apex Court order,” he said, adding this year the government could replace over 1,000 new liquor shops across the State. At present there are about 4,200 liquor shops in Tamil Nadu.
However, the official said that liquor sales in Chennai was down by ten per cent. Accordingly, the liquor sales in city was only Rs 9 crore against the average of Rs 10 crore.
The official said to ensure no hitch in sales, Tasmac outlets have been asked to ensure enough stocks and varieties of brands to be available to the customers. Though Tasmac officials were warned that shops that are caught selling liquor more than the MRP would be fined an amount ranging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000, it was reported that most liquor salesmen overcharged customers.
Most of them also complained that beer was sold for an extra Rs 20 against the MRP rate in several liquor outlets especially in the city. Since Deepavali fell on Tuesday this year, the State government extended the leave period by declaring a holiday on Monday also.