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British-era clubs, hotel bars sales hit by liquor ban

  • On April 1, Supreme Court extended the liquor ban on hotels and bars alongside highways.
  • The order also affected TASMAC outlets, and about 2,700 of them were effectively shut because of the ban. 
British era clubs hotel bars face the wrath of liquor bar

 

On April 1, Supreme Court  extended the liquor ban on hotels and bars alongside highways forcing more than 100 hotel bars and some century-old clubs in Chennai to shut down. 

 

According to a report, most of these bars and clubs are located within 500 meters of GST Road, Anna Salai, East Coast Road, 100 feet Road and IT corridor that happens to be the designated highways. The order also affected TASMAC outlets, and about 2,700 of them were effectively shut because of the ban. 

 

Calling it a ‘big blow’, the South Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association secretary T Nataraajan confirmed that 25 star-category hotels operating on GST Road between Guindy and Chengalpet would each lose ₹4 lakh every day, the Times of India quoted him as saying. 

 

The extension of the ban has also impacted Cosmopolitan club and Madras Gymkhana club both falling within 500 meters of Anna Salai forcing them to send mails and messages to their members about the alcohol restrictions. The management of both these clubs fears a loss of revenue. Another age-old club, Madras Race Club has temporarily shut down its bar and are in talks with lawyers as the premise of this bar does not fall in the highway, but it is located on the side stated the TOI report. 

 

Apart from these, there are around 40 star hotels located in East Coast Road and 35 three to five star hotels in IT corridor, and each of these hotels is expected to lose ₹2 lakh every day, the report quoted T Nataraajan as saying. 

 

The ban will impact not only the establishments but also Tamil Nadu government that earned above ₹26000 crore via liquor sales in the TASMAC outlets in the year 2015-16. The ban will cost ₹4500 crore to ₹10,000 crore revenue loss for the state government. 

 

Meanwhile, excise department and district authorities have given oral instructions to shut bars with immediate effect on Saturday and Sunday. 
 

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