Amidst a series of financial decisions taken to, the Tamil Nadu state cabinet decided on Wednesday to hike up the price of liquor in the state. Ministers also approved the 7th Pay Commission recommendations for state government employees.
Tipplers will now have to shell out Rs. 12 more for hard liquor bottles of 180ml, and Rs. 10 for a bottle of beer.
The government had last increased the prices of liquor in November 2014. The ordinary liquor bottles, which now cost Rs. 88, will cost upto Rs. 100. Price of medium-sized liquor bottles will from Rs. 100 to Rs. 110 and premium liquor bottles which cost between Rs. 120 and Rs. 380 will also see an increase in price by Rs. 10, reported The Hindu.
Addressing the media, DMK working president and opposition party leader MK Stalin said, “The government which was talking about phased alcohol prohibition has now increased the liquor prices to increase their income, look at the way how the current government is functioning.”
In 2014, the government had increased the liquor prices of a quarter bottle (180 ml) of regular and medium brand liquor had gone up by Rs. 10 while premium label prices had increased by Rs. 20.
In 2016, former Chief Minster Jayalalithaa had announced phased prohibition and since then about 1000 outlets have been shut. The state was expected to lose at least Rs.60 crore every year and the number of TASMAC shops was supposed to come down to 5,700.
However, TNM had reported that the closing of these shops did not lead to loss for the government. According to data released by the Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise revenue- liquor sales till May this fiscal year has surpassed the previous annum by a whopping Rs.1,149 crore. While the total revenue from sale of liquor came up to Rs.25,845 crore between 2015 and 2016, the succeeding year has seen revenue rise up to Rs.26,995 crore (till May).
The cabinet meeting on Wednesday went on from 11:15am to 1pm. According to reports, other important decisions were also taken at the meeting, which included implementing the seventh pay commission and steps to be taken to reduce dengue cases in different districts. After the seventh pay commission is implemented, the salaries of government employees are expected to increase by upto 20 per cent.