Today’s Economic Times states that there may be a big policy change for the alcohol sector, with Tamil Nadu likely to open its doors (at last!) to ‘outside’ distillers and breweries. You can imagine how xenophobic that sounds in this age of globalization! However, the move to open up the state will apparently benefit only those brands registered with TASMAC by mid 2003. Apparently the closure of the state to other liquor companies and brands was an ‘unofficial’ ban by the previous government.

Which means that those companies probably did not give in to the demands of that government to be able to sell their products in the state. Given the stranglehold on this market made possible by the setting up of TASMAC. Isn’t this against the Constitution? Some company should have gone to court over this kind of a ‘ban’. At any rate, perhaps we can now hope to get some decent liquor, beer and wines in Tamil Nadu, although we will still have to walk the gauntlet to buy them at the TASMAC shops.

Cheers!