The district unit of Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) has sent a proposal to the state government to shut 23 Tasmac outlets. Officials confirmed that 13 of the outlets are located in Coimbatore North and 10 of them are in Coimbatore South.

The officials are however tight-lipped about the outlets that are going to face the axe fearing repercussion from the Tasmac staff employed in those outlets. Once the government proposes an alternative arrangement for the staff, the list would be revealed, said a Tasmac official.

Officials said they have sent the proposal to the government two days ago. “The outlets were chosen based on the number of public objections they received and their proximity to schools and temples,” said a senior Tasmac manager.

“We also chose outlets without bars attached. There are about 46 outlets in Coimbatore which don’t have bars attached,” said an official. The list has also included a few Tasmac outlets that were closed before the recently-concluded assembly election owing to public protest like the one at Anaikatti.

Officials said the government would take a call on closing the proposed shops after considering similar proposals from other districts too. “The government has said only 500 shops would be closed to begin with. So we don’t know how many of the outlets we proposed would be closed down as other districts have also submitted long lists,” officials said and added that the move would hit the revenue flow.