Liquor sales revenue crosses Rs 36K cr in TN

Chennai: Liquor sales in Tamil Nadu touched new heights as it clocked huge revenue of more than Rs 36,000 crore in 2021-2022.

The policy note, which was tabled by State Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V Senthilbalaji, said total liquor sales in 2021-2022 touched Rs 36,013.14 crore compared to last year’s figure of Rs 33,811.15 crore, registering 6 % increase in total revenue. A senior official from Tasmac seeking anonymity, told DT Next that due to the lockdown liquor shops were closed for a while and hence revenue garnered in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 was only Rs 33,000 crore. Sale timings were also cut.

“However, due to new brands of liquor coming in, Tasmac revenue has increased. In 2021-2022, 541 new liquor brands were released in the market against the previous year’s figure of just 478 brands,” he said.

The official said that in order to provide variety to consumers, Tasmac has invited offers for registration and supply of liquor and wines from manufacturers having distillery and winery in other states and UTs.

“Sales also increased when people started using credit and debit cards widely after the introduction of POS machines in more than 3,000 liquor shops including in Chennai,” he said. He further said that during the Assembly election season, weekend sales crossed more than Rs 250 crore across the State. “Sales also slightly increased in February 2022 due to local body poll season,” he added.

With the government increasing excise duty, prices of liquor brands have increased by Rs 10 to Rs 60 and liquor sales are expected to touch about Rs 40,000 crore in 2022-2023.