Lottery is the best business in Kerala

A friend returned from the gulf and wanted to start a business, manufacturing concrete blocks in Thrissur district. Running pillar to post, for months, he failed to get all required approvals. The time, effort and expenses all in vain! No wonder that ranking of Kerala in “Ease of doing business” dropped over the years from 18th to 21st to 28th now. Enough of our ‘single window clearance’. But we are getting better at another number - suicides. The number of suicides per one lakh population increased from 23.5 in 2018 to 24.3 in 2019. 1,963 of the 8,556 who took the drastic step were unemployed - 22.9%! Is there a connection?

How about 'mango' as an election symbol? Refreshing right? Yes, that is the symbol of Twenty20, the political party in Kizhakkambalam backed by promoters of Kitex Garments. The political scene in Kerala took an interesting turn with the arrival of Twenty20 a few years back. A political party with corporate-style functioning, backed by capitalists, in Kerala! Heady Mix! Twenty20 won the last panchayat election handsomely. Now they have plans to contest in neighbouring panchayats. The interesting experiment has enough backers and critics. Nidheesh M. K. has an interesting article on Twenty20 which can be read here.

We had an unfortunate incident of an ambulance driver abusing a COVID patient. Why did this happen? The discourse in the media was all about the failure of government machinery at multiple fronts. It would also be worthwhile to understand why the driver did this. Can we just keep him aside labelling as a criminal? What was his emotional and mental well-being, particularly when everyone is keeping themselves safe from COVID. It would serve us good, to prevent it from happening elsewhere if we can understand him.

COVID continues to affect our economy. Onam shopping has been a mixed bag for appliance sales. The gap between revenue & expenditure of the government is widening. Compared to FY2019, total tax revenues have fallen by more than 25% but capital and social sector expenditures increased. Against budget estimates, tax collection is lower by 3 to 8% every month this year.

Harish Krishnan, executive vice-president and senior fund manager, equities at Kotak Mutual Fund wrote an interesting article exploring Kerala’s addiction on lotteries and how that could spoil our financial future. He brings forth some interesting numbers.

• In FY2018, Kerala households saved approximately ₹17,000 crore in fixed deposits, non-resident Keralites saved approximately ₹17,500 crore. In contrast, households spent close to ₹12,000 crore on lotteries and approximately ₹8,000 crore on medicines.

• In a year, an average household buys about 500 lottery tickets, spending around ₹15,000 per year.

• If listed, Kerala Lotteries would be among the top 50 profitable listed firms in India.

The entire article can be read here.

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