In a record dip in the last 15 years, Tamil Nadu's liquor revenue has fallen by Rs 200 crore. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, it stands at Rs 26,794 crore as opposed to the Rs 26,994 earned in 2016-2017, according to a report in The Hindu.
According to reports, while the VAT went up by Rs 37 crore, there was a fall in excise collection in 2017-2018, it was revealed.
Excise revenue, which stood at Rs 6,248 crore during 2016-17, dropped to Rs 6,009 crore during 2017-18. The drop in excise suggests that the state was really hit by the Supreme Court's order to close down private bars, pubs, hotels and restaurants near the highways. However, the increase in VAT suggests that the sales from TASMAC shops were not affected by this.
Earlier, in 2012-2013 and 2013-14, the TASMAC sales had dropped marginally, by about Rs 5 crores.
Beer export is up
The export of beer to other states and countries has seen a revenue of Rs 161 lakh coming in, to the state exchequer.
In 2016-17, around 5 lakh cases of beer were exported to other places. This doubled to 10 lakh in 2017-18 fiscal year.
Tamil Nadu has been exporting liquor to other states in the country since 2013 and to other countries from last year.
As for import of foreign liquor, revenue earned from the special fee continues to grow from Rs 7.39 lakhs to Rs. 7.74 and Rs 10.80 lakhs in the three years starting from 2014. During 2017-18, revenue earned from this special fee grew to Rs 11.24 crores.