Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on 4 August announced the state’s revised bar policy, which will come into effect from 1 September.
Designed to prioritise public health over revenue generation, the bar policy is aimed at promoting responsible alcohol consumption and safeguarding vulnerable communities from the ill effects of liquor.
The announcement followed a review meeting at the State Secretariat attended by Excise Minister Kollu Ravindra, MSME Minister Kondapalli Srinivas and senior Excise officials.
Naidu stressed that the liquor policy must focus on protecting the health of citizens, especially poor households, rather than viewing alcohol solely as a revenue source.
“The liquor policy is not just about revenue. We must focus on safeguarding people’s health and ensuring that poor households are not devastated by alcohol,” he said.
The bar policy encourages the sale of high-quality, low-alcohol-content beverages as a strategy to reduce health risks and curb the menace of substandard liquor that reportedly harmed lakhs of families in recent years.
Currently, Andhra Pradesh has 840 bars. Under the new policy, bar licences will be issued through a lottery system, with fees based on population size–Rs 35 lakh for areas with under 50,000 people, Rs 55 lakh for populations up to 5 lakh and Rs 75 lakh for cities above that.
Each bar will require a minimum of four applicants and the policy is expected to yield Rs 700 crore in revenue.
To promote inclusivity, 10 per cent of bar licences will be reserved for marginalised communities, following the model used for liquor shops.
Officials also noted a surge in liquor sales in Andhra’s border districts, attributed to better pricing, improved quality and availability of premium brands, which has curbed consumer outflow to neighbouring states.
The state has already declared 12 districts free of illicitly distilled (ID) liquor and plans to cover all 26 districts by September.
The government said this is part of its broader goal to eliminate harmful, unregulated alcohol and support both economic and social well-being.
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