Overview
- TASMAC recorded total Deepavali liquor sales of ₹441.38 crore, a drop from the previous year's festival levels and recent peaks.
- The corporation and industry sources link the decline to employee protests that closed about 600 shops, point-of-sale machine glitches, public confusion over a bottle buy-back scheme, and heavy local rains.
- Tiruchi was the top-selling zone with ₹98.97 crore, followed by Chennai at ₹95.85 crore, Madurai at ₹88.38 crore, Salem at ₹87.52 crore, and Coimbatore at ₹70.66 crore.
- TASMAC estimates it collected roughly ₹38 crore from the new ₹10 Environmental and Social Welfare Cess, has suspended around 44 sales staff for MRP violations, and plans to deploy about 1,000 new POS terminals to stabilise operations.
- Alcohol revenue is a major state income source—tax from alcohol was ₹50,845 crore in 2025–26—so the shortfall and operational strains could affect near-term receipts and will be watched as TASMAC implements fixes.