Defending sale of liquor by state-owned TASMAC, Tamil Nadu Government today ruled out implementing prohibition citing practical issues and said its presence in the sector was to prevent anti-social elements entering the business, whose size was estimated at Rs 26,000 crore in 2014-15.
Electricity Minister Natham R Viswanathan, who also holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio, informed the assembly that the Jayalalithaa government was however not promoting liquor but retailing it to ensure that money did not reach the hands of anti-social elements.
The government never shied away from imposing prohibition but there were practical issues with free availability of liquor in neighbouring states including the nearby Union territory Puduchery.
"If the neighbouring states including Puduchery are ready to implement prohibition, we are also ready to do it," he said in the Tamil nadu assembly while responding to S Krishnasamy (PT) who demanded for prohibition.
The government had last week said that the revenue earnings from Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), which retails Indian Made Foreign Liquor, was expected to go up toRs 26,295 crore during 2014-15 as against Rs 23,401 crore in the current year.
