Thiruvananthapuram: A driver in Kerala is poised to have a wonderful, belated Onam gift, worth a whopping Rs100 million (Dh5.6 million).
Musthafa Moottatharammal, 48, of Chuzhali at Moonniyur near Parappanangadi, has won the grand prize in the Kerala government-run Onam bumper lottery.
He has reportedly handed over the winning ticket to the Federal bank branch at Parappanangadi.
The lottery draw was held in the state capital on Friday and Moottatharammal's ticket number AJ442876 was declared the winning ticket.
Tickets for the lottery — offering the biggest purse ever in the history of Kerala lotteries, which began half a century back in 1967 — were priced at Rs250 (Dh14) each, including the newly-introduced 12 per cent goods and services tax.
Local media reported that the winning ticket was sold in Parappanangadi in Malappuram district, by a lottery agent identified as P Khalid.
Khalid himself is a big winner, because he stands to get as agency commission 10 per cent of the winner’s purse. He has been selling lottery tickets for nearly two decades.
The state government has also turned out to be big winner through the Onam lottery, with an estimated profit of Rs500 million, which is the net amount left after paying the winners and deducting expenses incurred in running the lottery.
The Onam lottery is being followed by the Puja bumper lottery, which carries a top prize of Rs45 million.
Last year, lottery tickets worth nearly Rs74 billion were sold in the state and this year the sales value is likely to top the Rs100 billion mark.
