Visakhapatnam District Alone Polished Off Liquor Worth `1,940 Crore in 2025

Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam district recorded liquor sales worth Rs 1,940.37 crore as on December 30, 2025. Sales were higher with sales of 23.32 lakh cases of liquor and 17.23 lakh cases of beer in 2025 compared to 20.91 lakh cases of liquor and 11.90 lakh cases of beer in 2024.

Director Prohibition and Excise R. Prasad explained that the department inspects private liquor shops, bars, clubs, star hotels, premium shops, APTDC bars, microbreweries and defense canteens, and also checks illegal liquor and drug activities. The area currently has 159 liquor stores, 75 bars, 16 star hotels, 5 APTDC bars, 7 clubs, 2 microbreweries, 2 premium shops and 19 defense canteens. Thanks to these, Rs 204 million has been collected in license fees by 2025; This marks a 20 percent increase from ₹169 billion in 2024.

Additional revenues included ₹2.43 lakh from seized vehicles, ₹2.15 lakh from towed vehicle violations and ₹30.19 lakh from Lok Adalat settlements. Permitted rooms contributed `8.77 crore, while one-day event permits added `14.82 lakh.

Enforcement actions in 2025 led to 442 cases of unauthorized liquor sales; Three vehicles with 883.76 liters of IML and 65.65 liters of beer were seized and 443 people were arrested. In 67 duty-free liquor cases, 680 liters of IML, 24.3 liters of beer and 6 vehicles were seized and 69 people were arrested. Fifteen people were arrested in eight cannabis cases and 67.23 kg of narcotics were seized. Unauthorized liquor sales are down 63 percent from 2024, based on site-level monitoring.

Prasad said daily monitoring is done through the ‘Consumption Eye’ app, while the government has launched the ‘AP Consumption Suraksha’ app to detect fake liquor. An average of 6 billion dollars worth of alcohol is sold in the region daily, and 45 percent of the transactions are carried out digitally.

Liquor shops will stay open until midnight for New Year’s Eve celebrations; Bars, hotels and event venues can stay open until 01:00 at night. 14 applications were received for a one-day event permit. Coordination continues between the Special Consumption and Police Departments to ensure security.

Inspector Prasad confirmed that copies of the permits will be shared with the police to prevent untoward incidents as enforcement teams continue their efforts to curb illegal liquor and drug activities as well as raise public awareness.