TASMAC sets sights high this weekend

CHENNAI: This New Year’s eve, Chennai would not be short of spirits! The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (TASMAC), the retailers for liquor in the State, is pitching for a whopping Rs 150-crore business during the weekend. “We are expecting the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer to hit Rs 70 crore on December 31, which would scale up on Sunday, January 1. In total, the State-owned Marketing Corporation is expected to earn a revenue of at least Rs 150 crore on these two days,” a senior TASMAC official told Express. “This New Year’s eve sale is likely to be at least 15 per cent higher than the corresponding year of 2010,” the official added.The authorities are stocking up two lakh cases of IMFL and one lakh beer cases to meet the ‘extreme’ demand on the D-Day. Liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu, on an average, record a sale of Rs 45 crore to Rs 50 crore on a weekday, whereas, on weekends, the sales hit even Rs 130 crore. For the forthcoming New Year eve,  the officials expect business to increase by over 20 per cent when compared to any normal day.TASMAC is vested with the exclusive privilege of wholesale supply of IMFL for the entire State, running 6,785 retails wine shops across Tamil Nadu, selling varieties of beer, brandy, scotch, whisky, wine and vodka.As a precursor of things to come, TASMAC outlets in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts have recorded a sale of around Rs 18 crore on Christmas day. According to sources, 41, 200 cases of IMFL and 24, 200 cases of Beer were sold on December 25 in the 1,200 wine shops located in the three districts. In these three districts, sale of liquor was up by about 80 percent compared to the normal days, the sources added.