Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on December 8, 2010:
CHENNAI: Contrary to popular expectations of a surge in liquor sales across the State during rainy days, the weekend spells have in fact resulted in a sharp decrease in revenue for Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Ltd (TASMAC).
According to sources, sales recorded during the last three days have dipped sharply against the tentative per day sales target.
Against the weekend sales target of Rs 65 crore per day, the 6600-odd TASMAC outlets across the State were able to record sales of only Rs 39 crore on Saturday and Rs 47 crore on Sunday.
On Monday, TASMAC outlets were able to sell liquor products worth `37 crore as against the daily sales target of `50 crore on normal days, the sources added.
In terms of cases, (each case contains nine litres of either liquor or beer) tipplers across Tamil Nadu had consumed over 1.15 lakh cases of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) on Saturday, over 1.29 lakh cases on Sunday and around 95,000 cases on Monday.
On the other hand, the sales of beer products in the last three days were about 39,000 cases on Saturday, about 52,000 cases on Sunday and 34,000 cases on Monday.
Traditionally, liquor sales across the State during the month of December are low compared with other months due to the Sabarimala season, where people refrain from alcohol consumption. The sales are expected to pick up towards the end of the month in view of Christmas and New Year.
Besides the spiritual factor, incessant rains across the State in the last few weeks have also affected the revenue circle of daily wage labourers, the main source of income for TASMAC outlets.
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