Hyderabad braces for liquor licence frenzy

The State Excise department has made elaborate arrangements to receive a huge number of applications as Saturday is the last day to file applications for new licensed liquor shops.

Even with the BC associations calling for a state bandh, excise officials confirmed that all facilities will be provided to liquor traders to submit applications without any difficulty in all district offices.

Although not a strong response has been received until now, the excise department expects a huge number of applications to be submitted before the deadline ends. After the government enhanced the application fee to Rs 3 lakh, excise officials said that liquor traders were hesitating to file more applications to get the license through a draw of lots in November.

Most liquor shops in Hyderabad city are receiving a high number of applications, whereas district numbers are not comparable to the last bidding. In 2023, more than 90,000 applications were received, earning a staggering Rs 2600 crore from the sale of applications alone.

The excise department is hoping the total number of applications will be close to 80,000 this time. The government has not changed the annual license fee, even with the increasing maintenance costs of wine shops in urban areas.