The Tamil Nadu government will grant the special licence to serve liquor only at the venues of international-level sports and other such events, and not at wedding halls, said Minister for Electricity, Excise, and Prohibition, V. Senthilbalaji.
The Tamil Nadu has government has introduced the special licence by amending the Tamil Nadu Liquor (Licence and Permit) Rules, 1981, to facilitate possession and serving of liquor on commercial premises
Addressing presspersons in Coimbatore on Monday, the Minister said that the special licence will be given if there were applications during international sports events happening in the State. There was a demand to serve liquor at the IPL match venue in Chennai as done in other States and so the permission was given, he said.
“The government will never permit serving of liquor at marriages or in wedding halls as reported in a section of the media today,” he said.
Electricity availability in summer
When asked about the power position to tackle the summer in the State, the Minister said the maximum daily demand had crossed 19,000 MW. The Electricity Board, as a precautionary measure, had called for short-term bids in December-January and is purchasing power at ₹8.50 a unit as against ₹12 a unit purchased through power exchange. This has resulted in ₹1,312 crores savings in three months.
“If the power demand goes up further, the State has put in place measures to meet the requirements. If electricity consumers have any problems related to power supply and are posting this on social media, it would be helpful if they shared their service connection numbers or dial Minnagam (94987 94987), he said.
‘DMK Files’
Regarding BJP State president K. Annamalai’s release of the ‘DMK Files’, Mr. Senthilbalaji said there was a difference between “corruption files” and “asset files”. The BJP State president should know the difference. “If he does not, he should ask someone and find out the difference,” he said.
The DMK has a one crore membership in the State and efforts are on to increase this by another one crore. “You should ask [Annamalai] BJP’s membership in the State,” he said.
Even before completing two years in office, the DMK government has announced the Metro Rail project for Coimbatore at ₹9,000 crores, the Semmozhi Poonga, and an IT park on 200 acres. Though there was no MLA here from the ruling party, Coimbatore was getting projects equal to those in Chennai, he said.
