Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Sunday released a list for the standalone shops that can function from May 11 across the state. A majority of these standalone shops will resume operations after the state entered the lockdown phase, which was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 25 till April 14 before it was extended to May 3 and then till May 17. With the ongoing lockdown phase set to come to an end on May 17, several restrictions for various businesses across the state are seeing considerable relaxations to help enable people ease back to a normal way of life.

Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami in his latest directive has announced that only thirty four types of standalone shops can begin operations from May 11 (Monday) among which include tea shops (parcel only), bakeries (parcel only), hotels and restaurants (parcel only), flower, fruits, vegetable shops and provision stores, construction material-selling shops, cement, hardware and sanitaryware stores, electrical appliances and service centers, mobile phone shops and service centers, computers and accessories and service centers, shops selling household appliances, automobile sales and service centers, shops dealing the spectacle sales and repair, small jewelry and textile shops (without air condition in rural areas), mixie and grinder service centers, TV shops and service centers, petty shops, furniture shops, push carts, dry cleaners, courier and parcel services, lorry booking services, xerox shops, two-wheeler and four-wheeler selling shops and service centers, herbal medicine shops, agricultural-related items and insecticides, tile shops, paint shops, electrical shops, automobile spare parts selling shops, nursery gardens, timber and plywood shops and saw mills.

In the new directive, it has also been stated that saloons, spa and beauty parlours are not permitted to function in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the state, which has so far claimed 44 lives while leaving as many as 6,535 people infected. Emphasis has once again been laid on all social distancing to be maintained at these shops along with disinfectants being sprayed at regular intervals while store owners have also been informed to keep the air conditioners switched off at all times. Check out the state's latest notification below: