Chennai: Tamil Nadu has introduced a new additional fee on liquor manufacturers supplying products to TASMAC, aiming to channel money that was allegedly paid as “commission” in earlier regimes into the state exchequer.
According to the report, manufacturers had been paying more than Rs 51 crore every month as commission linked to supply orders. After Chief Minister Vijay assumed office, the earlier per-case commission of Rs 60 was scrapped, and the government moved to convert the outflow into an official revenue stream.
The state has now issued an order requiring manufacturers to pay an extra Rs 90 per case for liquor and Rs 40 per case for beer. A separate additional fee of Rs 20 per case has also been fixed for wine. The government said the revised levy was notified through a rule change and published in the gazette on June 5.
TASMAC sells liquor through 4,048 outlets and procures Indian-made foreign liquor from 11 companies and beer from seven companies. The government said retail prices at TASMAC outlets will not change due to this measure, and estimated the policy will bring in immediate additional revenue of around Rs 1,000 crore annually.
In a note, the government also cited 2025–26 revenues from TASMAC sales, including Rs 11,836 crore as excise revenue and Rs 39,010 crore as VAT collections. It added that 717 liquor shops near educational institutions, places of worship and bus stands were closed after the new government took charge.
