THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Almost one in five Keralites would be trying their luck in this year’s Thiruvonam Bumper Lottery of the state lotteries department. The department sold 66.54 lakh tickets this year while it was 54 lakh tickets last year. The department closed the sales on Saturday night. Agents can sell tickets in their possession until the draw begins at 2pm on Sunday.
This year’s Onam bumper offers a first prize of Rs 25 crore, arguably the biggest-ever prize to be won on a single ticket in the country. The price of a ticket is Rs 500 while it was Rs 300 last year. The turnover from the sale of 66,54,914 tickets is Rs 332.74 crore while it was Rs 162 crore last year. The maximum number of tickets was sold in Palakkad district this year.
There will be one second prize of Rs 5 crore and ten third prizes of Rs 1 crore each. The first prize winner’s net earning, after deducting the agent’s commission of 10% and advance IT payment, would be Rs 15.75 crore. Onam Bumper is the biggest lottery organised by the department which has been offering Rs 12 crore as the first prize since 2019.
The total number of prizes is around four lakh, a two-fold increase from the previous year. The total prize money offered is Rs 126 crore as compared to the previous year’s Rs 54 crore. There will be ten third prizes while there were only six in 2021. The agent who sells the first prize winning ticket will get Rs 2.50 crore as commission.