Tasmac Pongal sale crosses Rs 450 crore

Tasmac officials said brandy was the most preferred brand this season as it contributed to 60 per cent of the collection. “Whiskey and beer have contributed about 30 per cent to the total liquor sales this Pongal,” he added.

A senior official from Tasmac told DT Next on Wednesday that on an average, liquor sales across the state is between Rs 90 crore and Rs 95 crore per day.

“This year the Pongal festival comes just after the week-end, at a four-day stretch, and therefore the liquor sales touched Rs 480 crore,” he added. Liquor sales for Pongal began on Saturday evening itself, he added.

“The Saturday sales touched Rs 100 crore while on Sunday it was Rs 120 crore,” the official said, and detailed, “On Monday, the liquor sales went up to Rs 130 crore and on Tuesday alone, the collection crossed the Rs 140 crore mark.”

Stating that Tasmac had purchased 20,000 extra cases of beer from various distilleries, the official said that at the same time, extra 20,000 cases of hard liquor comprising brandy, whiskey and rum were procured for the festival. “More than 5,000 cases of tin beers was procured this season especially for city tipplers,” he said.

An oral order has been issued to the salesmen at the liquor shops that incentives will be given if the sales target is achieved, he said.

While Vellore Tasmac division made Rs 5.43 crore sales on Pongal day, the Arakkonam division made Rs 3.54 crore sales, amounting to Rs 8.97 crore on Tuesday. The Vellore Tasmac division has 120 shops while Arakkonam has 83. The Vellore division sold 8,862 boxes of hard liquor and 5,064 boxes of beer, while Arakkonam sold 5,876 boxes of hard liquor and 3,035 boxes of beer. Salesmen and supervisors attached to sales outlets hoped that Tasmac top brass would not increase sales indent of individual shops steeply based on Pongal sales alone. They were surprised as sales during Deepavali in November last year accounted for only Rs 5.64 crore for thedistrict as a whole.