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Supreme Court's highway liquor ban has caused Rs730 crore loss to Tamil Nadu

  • One of the highest revenue generators for Tamil Nadu, TASMAC, has been hit hard by the highway liquor ban order from the Supreme Court
  • The Supreme Court in April passed an order for banning the sale of alcohol within 500 meters of State and National Highways
  • This led to the closure of 3,300 TASMAC outlets out of 5,700 in Tamil Nadu
  • The closure has reduced its revenue earnings by Rs 730 crore, a 15% decline in annual collections
Supreme Courts highway liquor ban has caused Rs 730 crore loss to TASMAC

One of the highest revenue generators for Tamil Nadu, TASMAC, has been hit hard by the highway liquor ban order from the Supreme Court. There has been a steep decline in their profits.

The Supreme Court in April passed an order for banning the sale of alcohol within 500 meters of State and National Highways. This led to the closure of 3,300 TASMAC outlets out of 5,700 in Tamil Nadu.

The closure has reduced its revenue earnings by Rs 730 crore, a 15% decline in annual collections.

A senior government official told The New Indian Express, “Our annual income is about Rs 29,000 crore. But with many shops shut for nearly two months, we lost 15 percent of our revenue.”

TASMAC generates nearly a third of the State’s revenue thereby affecting Tamil Nadu’s overall revenue generation.

People in the state protested the relocation of several outlets. This has had a direct impact on the State-owned liquor company’s business. The loss could be as high as Rs 4,350 crore if these shops remain shut. Attempts to denotify highways were stayed by the Madras High Court.

This is part of a series of setbacks for TASMAC.

After demonetization had been introduced, TASMAC lost revenue worth Rs 100 crore. TASMAC instructed its outlets not to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. The other was a policy to close 500 TASMAC shops a year in keeping with a promise made during elections. 
 

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