An analysis of the statistics on the sale of IMFS and beer since 1983, when the Tasmac was established, has throw up interesting details on the drinking habits in the State.

Beer consumption, though with intermittent dips, had registered a steady growth in sales since 1983-84 till 2012-13. But after that the drink, believed to be the third most popular after water and tea, has witnessed a sharp decline.

On the other hand, the sales of hard liquor have grown steadily, peaking in 2013-2014 and then dropping. Nonetheless, the data indicate that hard liquor consumption has relatively increased compared to beer over the years in Tamil Nadu.

Interestingly, hard liquor consumption was the highest in the month of December 2015, coincidently when beer was least consumed as opposed to other months.

Indeed, December 2015 seems to be a month of heavy business for hard liquor marketers in the State, as only during this month, the sales have been multi-fold.