Lucky strike: Kerala, Punjab see a rise in lottery revenues over past decade

Kerala tops in lottery revenues

Kerala and Punjab have seen a rise in lottery revenues over the past decade, while other states have stagnated, a Moneycontrol analysis shows.

Kerala's revenues likely rose 2.4 times and those of Punjab would be up 3.4-fold higher in 2024-25 from a decade ago (2014-15).

The Supreme Court on February 11 ruled that the Centre had no right to levy service tax on lottery distributors, as the matter falls under the state list.

A Moneycontrol analysis of five of the 12 state budgets that issue lotteries shows that barring Kerala, lottery revenues constitute a smaller proportion of total non-tax revenues of states.

For instance, lottery revenues in Goa are expected to be Rs 36 crore in 2024-25 compared with Rs 37 crore a decade ago. Lottery revenues will likely be 0.6 percent of non-tax revenues in 2024-25.

In Maharashtra, these revenues will likely be marginally higher at Rs 139 crore from Rs 134 crore in 2014-15. The proportion of lottery revenues as share of non-tax revenues is a low 0.5 percent.

In West Bengal, receipts from lotteries are expected to halve to Rs 63 crore from Rs 158 crore in 2014-15.  Revenues from lottery tickets have not been a source of income for the Bengal government since 2021.

Kerala leads the charge

The pervasiveness of the lottery in Kerala can be gauged from the fact that the state’s lottery revenues were 28-times more than the other four states combined.

Kerala is expected to earn Rs 13,244 crore compared with Rs 235 crore for Punjab.

In 2014-15, Kerala earned Rs 5,445 crore from lottery sales, while Punjab garnered Rs 70 crore.

Kerala also trumps other states in terms of the lottery’s contribution to its non-tax revenues, the analysis shows. Lottery sales likely contributed to 80 percent of the states’ non-tax revenues in 2024-25.

For Punjab, lottery accounted for only 2 percent to the state’s non-tax revenues.