Chennai: State run liquor outlets that are recording a 30 per cent dip in sales due to demonetisation are now racing against time and are eyeing a whopping Rs 400 crore liquor sales on New year’s eve and on January 1.
“Liquor of all variants costing over Rs 700 crore will be stocked in all the 6,000 odd liquor outlets and the stocks from Godown have already started arriving”, Tasmac sources said, adding that both variants of beer and brandy are stocked in more volumes when compared with whisky and rum.
The usual daily sale is around Rs 65 crore and during weekends the sales range up to Rs 90 crore, but after the demonetisation, there are not many sales and now with new year arriving the sales had picked up, Tasmac sources said.
One of the major reasons for the dip in two months sales was due to the circular from Tasmac management, directing the staff not to accept notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 after November 9.
The annual sales of Tasmac are expected to dip by more than Rs 1,000 crore due to demonetisation and the closure of shops along the national highways, Tasmac sources said.
However, tipplers are unhappy with Tasmac authorities for not serving certain premium brands. “Brands like Kingfisher beer and whisky variants including Signature and Royal Challenge are not sold and the customers have to pick only what are available,” rued S. Santhosh, of Egmore.
