THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Call it a belated Onam gift, but the Kerala State Lotteries Department is scarcely complaining. This year, its Onam Bumper lottery raked in nearly double the revenue compared to 2010. The draw held on Saturday saw the first Prize of Rs 5 crore going to number UV 425851. According to state lottery officials, the Onam Bumper brought in an astounding Rs 60.36 crore, an all-time record. In fact, the sales of this particular lottery had pipped last year’s total of Rs 34.07 crore by August 28 itself. With one week left for the draw, sales crossed Rs 50 crore, meaning, the last week witnessed frantic buying by lottery enthusiasts. The huge prize money had also prompted several first time buyers to try their luck. ‘’It’s always like that. The eve of the draw witnesses big sales,’’ State Lotteries director Biju Prabhakar said. This year, the department had doubled the prize money to Rs 5 crore. Saturday also saw the Kerala Lotteries’ websitedrew a large number of hits after the results were posted. In all, 15,554 people visited the site, possibly another record for the department, to check out the results on the day. The total hit for the week was just over 24,000. The next big one from the department is the Pooja Bumper, with a first prize of Rs 2 crore plus an Innova car.
Comments
0 comment