Few Groups Bag Many Liquor Shops In Adilabad And Mancherial

ADILABAD: Several individual groups have secured a large number of liquor shops in the last lottery for 2025-2027, fueling speculations that some of them may form syndicates to dominate the liquor business in their respective areas in Adilabad and Mancherial districts.

The result surprised many, as several group members who won multiple stores shared their celebratory photos on social media. Insiders said some of these groups, led by experienced liquor businessmen, approached outlets under different names and managed to take over as many as three outlets in Adilabad town. Several new entrants from rural areas have also gained sole outlets.

A senior businessman in Adilabad is learned to have offered “goodwill amounts” to the new allottees to take over his stores and consolidate control of trade in the city. Liquor shops in Adilabad and adjoining border mandals in Maharashtra are said to be in high demand due to sales volume.

A similar trend was observed in Mancherial, Nirmal and Komaram Bheem Asifabad districts, especially those bordering Maharashtra. Industry sources said shop owners are making higher profits by illegally mixing branded liquors with low-quality or fake liquors imported from cross-border countries where prices are comparatively cheaper.

While 34 of the total 40 liquor shops in Adilabad district were distributed through lottery, 6 remained pending as less than 10 applications were received for each. Collector Rajarshi Shah said a fresh notification will be issued soon to re-tender the remaining shops.

In many cases, groups of friends or like-minded people apply jointly to improve their chances and share the financial burden, officials said. Even if only one or two people from a group gain a stake, the stores are then run collectively.

Gujjula Harika has secured two liquor outlets at Ponakal and Laxmanchanda in Nirmal district. In Mancherial, a group bagged four shops in different villages and celebrated their success with a banquet before they even started their work. Another group of 29 friends from Jannaram and Luxettipet applied to liquor shops and won outlets in Luxettipet, Mutyampet, Myadaripet and Jannaram.