Boozers in Tamil Nadu have for yet another time showed why TASMAC shops are worth functioning in the state during the holidays while most of the government offices are closed. The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which enjoys a larger market space in liquor sales, has set a new record in the sales, as the state-run liquor outlets had filled the state coffers with crores of rupees during the Diwali weekend.  

According to reports, TASMAC had banked Rs 277.88 crore on Friday - November 13, and Rs 237.91 crore on Saturday during Diwali across the state through the liquor sales. In total, TASMAC had the wealthiest Diwali and recorded liquor sales worth Rs 465.79 crore during the past two days as the outlets had seen people thronging to buy liquors amid the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been a huge sales by the outlets, that were resumed two months back after facing shutdown in the wake of the lockdown. 

Comparatively, sales for Diwali 2020 are much higher than the preceding year as in 2019, the TASMAC outlets had sold liquors worth Rs 355 crore on last year Diwali and the day before the festival. While the third day of the festival was taken into account in 2019,  the outlets had put Rs 445 crore during the three-day festival into the coffers. 

In 2018, the state had recorded sales of Rs 325 crore while it had recorded Rs 245 crore and Rs 265 crore in 2017 and 2016 respectively. As the state government had imposed lockdown owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, the TASMAC outlets were closed and it also has banned large gatherings to curb the spread of the virus. When the government proposed the guidelines for unlocking the lockdown, it had allowed the resumption of the TASMAC shops. 

The outlets were resumed amid the rapid spread of the pandemic and protests from the activists and opposition parties. The government had taken no turnbacks and issued guidelines and restrictions to the outlets and customers. The outlets are allowed to function with precautions and standard operating procedures and they have been permitted to function from 12 pm to 10 pm across the state. 

The reports say that the liquor consumption and sales would see a 20-30% jump in the state during the festive season. In normal times, the total sales would be close to Rs 70-80 crore on weekdays and Rs 100 crore on the weekends as the TASMAC outlets have always been the leading revenue generator to the state government. There are over 5,300 TASMAC liquor outlets in the state and these outlets are contributing over Rs 30,000 crore of tax revenue to the state treasury.