Chennai: The total Sunday lockdown announced by the Tamilnadu government due to rising Covid cases and to curb the spread of Omicron variant, seemed to have not dampened the ‘spirits’ of the tipplers across the State.
With all the 5,400 state-owned liquor outlets were shut today in view of the
complete lockdown, tipplers ensured that they had enough stock for Sunday
as Rs 217 crore worth of liquor was sold through the state-owned Tamilnadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) on the lockdown eve.
Among the major districts, Chennai topped the sales with Rs 50.04 crore,
followed by Madurai Rs 43.20 crore, Trichy Rs 42.59 crore, Salem Rs 40.85 crore and Coimbatore Rs 41.28 crore as brisk sales were witnessed till the shutters were brought down at 10.00 p.m. Saturday night.
The TASMAC officials also ensured that there was adequate stock of liquor
in all the retail outlets by sending replenishments in time.
The State government in its Policy Note for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise department had stated that the sale of liquor through TASMAC, which stood at Rs 33,133.24 crore in 2019-20, had marginally increased to Rs 33,811.14 crore in 2020-21.
Percentage wise the sales margin might be slightly lower when compared to
previous years, as the sale of liquor through 5,402 Retail Vending Shops in
38 districts, was one of the major revenue earners for the state government
for funding its various welfare schemes.
On an average, the daily sales will be in the range of about Rs 90 crore
to Rs 95 crore and it would cross the Rs 100 crore mark during weekends
and Rs 200 crore mark during festival seasons like, New Year, Pongal and
Deepavali.
Ever since the TASMAC has been granted the exclusive privilege of Retail
Vending of Indian Made Foreign Spirits under Section 17-C(1-B )(a) of the
Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937 (Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937), from 29 November 2003 by the then AIADMK government headed by J Jayalaltihaa, there has been a significant increase in liquor sales in the state with every passing year, amid various political parties wanted implementation of total prohibition in the State, a demand which would gain momentum especially at the time of elections.
From Rs 3,639.93 crore in 2003-2004, the sales crossed the Rs 5,000 crore mark in 2005-06 to Rs 6,030.77 crore and went past the Rs 10,000 crore mark in 2008-09 to Rs 10,601.50 crore.
In the last ten years, the sales went up from close to Rs 15,000 crore in
2010-11 to Rs 21,680.67 crore in 2012-13, breached the Rs 25,000 crore
barrier in 2015-16 at Rs 25,845.58 crore.
In the last five years, the revenue earned through liquor sales stood at
Rs 26,995.25 crore, Rs 26,797.96 crore, Rs 31,157.83 crore, Rs 33,133.24 crore and Rs 33,811.14 crore in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively.