VIJAYAWADA: A total of 466 bar and restaurant licences were allocated under the Andhra Pradesh Bar Policy 2025-28 through a lottery system on Saturday. Of these, 388 licences were issued under the open category and 78 under the reserved category. District collectors conducted the lottery at 8 a.m., in the presence of Excise Department officials and applicants.
Officials confirmed the smooth completion of the draw and informed the successful applicants. For 37 Open Category bars and three reserved-category bars, fewer than four applications were received.
As a result, the government has extended the application deadline for these establishments until 6 p.m. on September 1, with the draw scheduled for September 2 at 8 a.m. Fresh notifications will be issued for any bars that do not receive applications.
The new policy aims to allocate 924 bar licences — 840 under the Open Category and 84 reserved for Scheduled Castes. All licences are being issued through a transparent lottery system.
Vizag received the highest number of licences with 72, followed by Guntur (52) and Krishna (30). The Prohibition and Excise Department had received 1,698 applications for OC bars and 567 for reserved category bars, with 1,657 and 564 deemed valid after scrutiny.