Fifty-Fifty! New Sunday lottery ticket unveiled

Thiruvananthapuram: A new lottery ticket that will be drawn every Sunday will soon hit the market in Kerala. Named, Fifty-Fifty, the ticket will be priced Rs 50 and offer a first prize of Rs 1 crore.

Finance Minister K N Balagopal unveiled the new lottery here on Monday.
The first draw of the new ticket is on May 29. In all 1.08 crore tickets in 12 series will be issued.

"The State earns only a little profit from the lotteries," Balagopal said during the launch. "Only small profit is left after awarding the prizes and meeting the related expenses." 

However, the lottery sales provide livelihood for 2 lakh people, he added. 

Fifty-Fifty replaces the erstwhile Pournami ticket that was withdrawn by the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even the Bhagya Mithra ticket that was launched instead of the Pournami was discontinued in late 2021.

As reported earlier currently there is no draw of lottery in the State on Sunday.

At present, Kerala has six daily lotteries and their draws take place from Monday to Saturday (in the same order): Win-Win, Stree Shakti, Akshaya, Karunya Plus, Nirmal, Karunya. Besides, there are six bumper lotteries every year coinciding with festivals and New Year.

Meanwhile, lottery tickets that will be printed using glitter ink to prevent frauds are set to be launched soon.

A decision on hiking the price of daily tickets to Rs 50 from the current Rs 40 is awaited. A section of the agents has demanded an increase in the price.

At present, lottery tickets are printed at the Kerala Books and Publications Society at Kakkanad in Ernakulam and the C-APT in Thiruvananthapuram. There are demands to bring in more agencies.

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