Stating that authorities had earlier decided to reduce timings by one hour, he said taking into consideration suggestions from various quarters, officials came to a conclusion that sales would be curtailed by two hours. “However, the decision is only provisional. A final decision will be arrived at only at the cabinet meeting and then the government order would be issued,” the Tasmac official added.

Ruling out that the time of liquor sales will not be extended beyond 10 pm, he said losses incurred might be compensated by setting up new shops in stipulated areas.

According to him, the decision to reduce the timing of sales would cost the exchequer to the tune of several crores of rupees. “It is expected that revenue will be reduced by Rs 100 crore per month,” he said. At present, the total revenue from liquor sales per year is Rs 26,700 crore for Tamil Nadu. As of now, Tasmac, the monopoly agency in selling liquor across the State, has about 4,000 retail vending shops and 1,400 bars attached to these stores.

When the AIADMK came to power for the second time in 2016, the late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had ordered closure of 500 liquor shops as per her party’s poll promise, which had assured people of total prohibition. When Edappadi K Palaniswami took over as Chief Minister in 2017, he had also instructed that 500 liquor shops would close down in TN.