Chennai: To address complaints over the limited variety of liquor and beer available at Tasmac outlets, and to counter allegations of favouritism towards certain manufacturers, the state-owned corporation has scrapped its conventional indent system for procuring beer and ordinary Indian-made foreign spirits (IMFS). Instead, it has begun placing procurement orders equally among all eligible suppliers on a trial basis.Tasmac had been following a three-month weighted average formula to raise indents for all liquor and beer varieties from 11 distilleries and six breweries. Procurement orders were determined by comparing each brand’s three-month sales average with its sales in the previous week. With daily sales averaging 1.4 lakh cases of beer and 1.9 lakh cases of IMFS (each case contains about eight litres), the system had come under criticism from industry players, who alleged that it favoured certain manufacturers over others.However, Tasmac officials under the TVK regime have been exploring ways to make the market a level playing field for all manufacturers and provide more options for liquor buyers. Now, the corporation has equally divided the orders for all beer varieties and the ordinary range of IMFS varieties. “The ordinary range IMFS accounts for nearly 70% of overall sales, so they were considered for the new indent system,” said a Tasmac official.Under the new system, procurement orders for beer are being divided equally among all six breweries, with each supplier dispatching an equal share of the daily requirement to Tasmac outlets. Likewise, orders for the ordinary range of IMFS are being distributed evenly among the state’s 11 distilleries. “Fresh indents will be generated based on sales captured through the real-time monitoring system,” a Tasmac official said. The corporation had experimented with a similar procurement model following the Enforcement Directorate’s searches last year, but the initiative was short-lived.Industry players, however, say the new system will end up favouring certain beer brands as more units manufacture them. “In IMFS, only the ordinary range has been divided among all players, whereas no such method is adopted for beer. Tasmac should have divided the indent brand-wise instead of giving equal shares to all units. Also, some units are not fully operational, so they won’t be able to honour the purchase order. This will naturally put one or two manufacturing units ahead,” said a manufacturer, on condition of anonymity.Satish Galley, a Semmancheri resident, welcomed the move and urged that Tasmac should also consider roping in brands that are more popular in other states and internationally. “When it happens, the quality of liquor supplied by local manufacturers will also improve,” he said.
