Thiruvananthapuram | The winning momentum from its bumper tickets seems to have cast a positive spell on the Kerala lottery scene, attracting more buyers and contributing to the heightened anticipation surrounding the Christmas-New Year bumper draw.

Officials from the state lottery department said after the Tamil Nadu natives won the first prize, Rs 25 crore, in the Thiruvonam Bumper lottery last year, there is an increased popularity for Kerala lottery tickets, with its Christmas-New Year bumper ticket registering a record sale.

The bumper ticket, with a first prize of Rs 20 crore and Rs 1 crore each for 20 people as second prize, among various other cash prizes, surpassed the sales record last year, they said.

According to official figures, the lottery agents in the state have already sold 7.5 lakh more tickets for this year's bumper compared to the previous year.

With two more weeks of sales remaining, the lottery frenzy shows no signs of slowing down.

"The important factor about Kerala, compared to some other state lotteries, is that it is fully run by the state government and from ticket printing to draw, all procedures are very transparent," Abraham Renn S, IRS, Director, Directorate of Kerala Lotteries, told PTI.

He said more non-Keraliites are now buying tickets and the Sabarimala season also helps in improving the sales.

"So far (as of 8 January), we have sold 7.5 lakh more tickets this year. Till now, 27,47,750 tickets have been sold and only 2,59,250 tickets are remaining. Palakkad is leading in sales," C F Dileep Kumar, Publicity Officer, Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries, said.

Ernakulam is in second place in sales, followed by Thrissur at third position.

He said the Kerala government has been taking various steps to improve the prize structure for the benefit of those who win.

"There has never been a delay in disbursing the prizes and those who win the major prizes could directly hand over the tickets either to the directorate with necessary documents or through any nationalised bank," Renn said.

He said non-Keralaiites who win the major prizes also have no restriction in claiming it if they provide all necessary documents.

"There should not be any doubt as the last Thiruvonam Bumper winner was from another state," Renn said.

The large migrant population in Kerala are major buyers of the Kerala Lottery.

"If they earn Rs 2,000 a day, they purchase lottery tickets for Rs 1,000," Ahammed K, a lottery seller near Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple here said.

He said if they win prizes above Rs 50,000, they then leave for their homeland and return later.

"They may not win prizes often, but they keep on buying tickets," Ahammed said.

As Kerala shares its border with Tamil Nadu, Tamilians cross over in large numbers to purchase tickets.

As per the Kerala Lottery rules, the tickets cannot be sold outside the state boundaries and they have to be purchased within the state limits.

"The newspapers are now full of stories regarding migrant labourers winning major prizes in the Kerala lottery. It shows that they are seriously buying tickets," Renn said.

In 2022, when the Onam bumper had a record Rs 25 crore as the first prize, the winner's stories made Kerala lotteries super popular all over the country.

The Kerala government even started giving more money for their other big lotteries to keep the excitement going.

The Christmas-New Year bumper lottery ticket has upped the ante this year, offering a first prize of Rs 20 crore, increased from last year's Rs 16 crore.

The second prize is Rs 1 crore each for 20 lucky winners, and the third prize is Rs 10 lakh each for 30 people.

The ticket, priced at Rs 400, holds the promise of big winnings, with the draw set for January 24.