65,000 apply for liquor shop licence in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: An unprecedented number of people have expressed interest to establish liquor shops in AP in the past week. On Sunday, when the deadline for submission of applications ended, the AP Excise department had received 65,154 applications for 3,125 shops, the highest ever, according to officials.

Guntur topped the list with 11,545 applications. Officials attributed this due to the new capital coming up in the region. “The possibility of huge inflow of people into the new capital in the coming two years resulted in the spurt in applications,” Excise officials said.

In 2013, Guntur district had received 6,178 applications. The revenue by way of applications alone was around Rs 33 crore, they said. Interestingly, many women applied for the licences and in some districts they outnumbered men.

“There may be cases of multiplicity and benami names. Some men have filed applications in their spouse’s name, hoping that this will get them the lincences,” Wine Dealers Association president Venkateswara Rao said.

The response was so high that the officials had to extend office hours for at least five to six hours in the past three days. The process of submission of applications continued beyond midnight. Pressure has been on the district machinery to allow private liquor shops in areas where population density is high.