The Tamil Nadu government has finally waved the green flag for re-opening liquor counters at clubs and hotels that fall under municipal limits. R. Kirlosh Kumar, Commissioner (in-charge), Prohibition and Excise Department, sent a letter to all the District Collectors on Friday morning to this effect.
On August 23, the Supreme Court clarified that the highways that fall within municipal limits will not be covered by its order banning sale of liquor on State and national highways. The State government said that it would give its final nod after consulting the Advocate General.
The order that was addressed to the Collectors said that the Advocate General was consulted for his opinion on the Supreme Court judgement (dated July 11).
In his reply, the Advocate General stated that in view of the order of the Supreme Court, which was binding on all courts, there was no longer any prohibition in respect of locating the licensed establishments (licensees holding FL1 to FL 11 licence) within the proximity of national and State highways, “if the licensed establishments were within municipal area.” This would include Corporations, municipalities and town panchayats.
The governments of West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have already permitted licensed establishments that are located within municipal areas to function, he noted.
Celebrating the relief
Clubs and hotels, which saw revenues fall and margins bleed for the last 153 days, heaved a sigh of relief. The hospitality industry in the State was limping post the ban.
Shalabh Verma, director of sales and marketing, Park Hyatt Chennai, said, “As the Supreme Court lifts the 500 metre rule within the city limits, Park Hyatt Chennai is celebrating this momentous occasion with a special offer for our patrons which is ‘Buy Any Drink’ at ₹500.”
“We are marketing this offer to our regulars at the restaurants and the corporate clientele in the city,” he said. For Park Hyatt, the revenue setback has been approximately 10- 12% of the yearly food and beverage budget.
The marketing head of another popular hotel at Guindy said, “Our revenue setback was more than 25%. Most of the business meetings shifted to other hotels that served liquor. But now with the clearance, it will be business as usual and we will compensate for the losses during the festive season that is coming soon.”
Spreading the news
T. Nataraajan, secretary, South India Hotels and Restaurants Association, said that outlets were now slowly beginning to open again and that the message was being communicated to all those involved. “Stocks are not a problem,” he said, but added that it would take a little time for things to get back completely to the way they were before.
“Lots of long-term events such as conferences and weddings have already shifted out to Bengaluru and Hyderabad but those planning events now can be targeted,” he said. Clubs that had closed the bars sent out SMSs to their members informing them that the bar counters have opened.
“Many of the city’s clubs that had been affected by the ban opened their bars on Friday,” said V. Murali, vice president, Cosmopolitan Club and management committee member, Gymkhana Club. He said that clubs had already sent out messages to their members with the news.
The proprietor of one of the distilleries in Tamil Nadu, which bottles popular beer brands, said, “This decision is a great boon for us. We had to cut down our production by 10% during the last three months. From this week we will start bottling more beer,” he said.
Huge loss
Analysts who closely track the liquor market in Tamil Nadu said that the 153-day ban might have resulted in losses to the tune of over ₹2,500 crore (this includes closing down of Tasmac outlets). A senior government official agreed there was a huge loss post the ban (April 1) but refused to divulge statistics. Post the ban, liquor sales dipped across the State by over 25%, he said.
