Kerala cranks up lottery ticket production

Saturday 14th of October 2017

The Kerala government says it is expecting to generate Rs.10,000 crores (US$1.5 billion) in lottery revenue for the 2017-18 fiscal year, after a decision was made to increase the number of daily printed tickets, local media reports.

In the financial year ended March 31, 2017, the sale of state lottery tickets fetched an all-time revenue high of Rs. 7,395 crore.

According to information available by The New Indian Express, the Kerala State Lotteries Department (KSLD) has decided to print an additional 400,000 tickets a day, with effect from November 1, bringing the total number of tickets per day to 9.6 million.

K D Appachan, Deputy Director (Sales), KSLD, said, “It has been only a month since the Lotteries Department took up the number to 9.2 million tickets from around 8.5 million tickets it was printing over the past many months. This comes after a rough patch the sales went through immediately after demonetization when the sales fell to an unprecedented low of 6 million tickets.”

Appachan expressed confidence. “In the first six months of this fiscal we have already crossed last year’s total revenue. At the current going rate, we are confident of crossing Rs 10,000 crore figure by March 31,” he said.

Venkatesapathy S, director of KSLD said things were going in the right direction.

“In principle, we have decided to increase the printing of tickets as a part of our sales strategy,” he said. “With the department reducing the ticket price from Rs 50 to Rs 30 recently, more people started buying the tickets, thus raising the demand. Even after distributing 9.2 million tickets in 12 series over the past 30 days, it was found to be inadequate to meet the demand from the public. The agents have been demanding an increase in the number given to them. The print order for 9.6 million tickets a day has already been placed with Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS),” he said.

Lottery