Senior government sources said Vijay was informed that nearly Rs 102 crore was allegedly being diverted every month through unofficial “party fund” collections embedded within TASMAC operations.
In his first Cabinet meeting on Friday after assuming office, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay is said to have launched a sweeping crackdown on alleged leakages, unofficial collections and “party fund” practices linked to the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC), ordering officials to ensure that every rupee generated through liquor sales reaches the State treasury.
Senior government sources said Vijay was informed that nearly Rs 102 crore was allegedly being diverted every month through unofficial “party fund” collections embedded within TASMAC operations, with government estimates suggesting that nearly Rs 1,600 crore may have been siphoned from the State exchequer over the last five years. This also brings the spotlight and scrutiny on the DMK’s alleged use of TASMAC, sources said.
The Chief Minister reportedly directed officials to immediately dismantle long-running unofficial cash collection systems operating across TASMAC’s wholesale and retail network. There are nearly 4,048 registered outlets.
The reforms are being overseen by Minister for Prohibition and Excise K Vignesh, a 37-year-old first-time minister from a modest background. His parents reportedly ran a tea stall before he entered the cable distribution business and later politics.
“The Chief Minister made it clear in the Cabinet meeting that his government does not need revenue generated through corruption or through the suffering of people. His instruction was simple – arrest leakages immediately and bring back people’s money to the treasury,” Minister K Vignesh told NDTV.
Sources said prohibition officials and distilleries have already been informed that the government intends to scrap all informal collection systems associated with TASMAC operations.
This marks the beginning of a major administrative overhaul of TASMAC operations, from liquor procurement and warehouse dispatch to retail sales, bottle returns and shop-level collections.
Minister Vignesh said the government was working on a “foolproof transparency mechanism” to ensure that all revenue from liquor sales directly reaches the State exchequer.
Rs 100 Crore A Month Allegedly Routed As ‘Party Funds’
According to Excise Department sources, unofficial collections had allegedly become institutionalised within the TASMAC supply chain over nearly two decades. Officials explained that liquor in Tamil Nadu is supplied through standardised cases depending on bottle size:
180 ml bottles are packed in cases of 48
375 ml bottles come in cases of 24
750 ml bottles are packed in cases of 12
Beer cases generally contain 12 bottles
“For every liquor case, around Rs 90 per case was allegedly diverted as ‘party fund’ collections. In beer cases, around Rs 40 per case was collected, while wine cases allegedly contributed Rs 20 per case towards ministerial or political funds,” a senior source said.
Officials claimed these collections operated across warehouses, transport and retail outlets.
“Nearly 88 lakh consumers buy liquor through TASMAC every month. Internal estimates showed that at least Rs 102 crore every month was allegedly moving into unofficial channels,” the source added.
Sources said the TASMAC crackdown is only the beginning of a wider anti-corruption and revenue-monitoring exercise planned by the new government.
“The Chief Minister has asked officials to identify leakages in every department and ensure that government revenues are fully accounted for. TASMAC was taken up first because of the scale of unofficial collections,” a senior source said.
According to sources, the mining department could be the next major sector to face scrutiny as the government expands its review of alleged revenue leakages and unofficial cash flows across departments.
Empty Bottle Scheme Under Scanner
The government is also reviewing the controversial Rs 10 empty-bottle deposit-and-buyback system followed at TASMAC outlets.
Under the current mechanism, customers pay an additional Rs 10 deposit for every liquor bottle purchased, refundable when the empty bottle is returned. Officials believe the system created significant scope for unaccounted cash transactions.
According to internal estimates, nearly one crore liquor bottles are sold every month in Tamil Nadu. “If one lakh bottles were sold, only around 60,000 bottles actually came back into the system. The remaining deposits stayed unaccounted for. That is where a major portion of the corruption was happening,” an official said.
Sources estimate that irregularities linked to bottle return collections alone may have resulted in corruption worth nearly Rs 300 crore every month.
The government is now examining proposals to integrate the Rs 10 deposit into the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) or introduce a digitised refund mechanism to eliminate leakages.
Vignesh confirmed that the government had already decided to operationalise the empty bottle collection and buy-back system through outsourced agencies before the end of June.
717 TASMAC Shops Shut
The TASMAC overhaul is closely tied to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government’s broader anti-addiction agenda.
One of Vijay’s first decisions after taking office was ordering the closure of 717 TASMAC retail shops across the State. According to departmental estimates, shutting these shops could reduce annual liquor revenue by nearly Rs 8,000 crore.
