Bars allotted under new policy through draw of lots

Amaravati: A lottery draw was held on Saturday to allot 466 bars (388 open and 78 reserved) as part of the new Andhra Pradesh Bar Policy 2025–28. The process was conducted under the supervision of district collectors. The draw was completed, and the selected applicants have been notified.

For 37 open category bars and 3 reserved category bars, fewer than four applications were received. As a result, the application deadline for these specific locations has been extended to 6 pm on Monday. The lottery for these bars will be held on Tuesday at 8 am. Officials stated that a separate notification will be issued for bars that did not receive any applications.

The government had previously announced the bar policy, allocating a total of 924 bars across the State. This includes 840 bars in the open category and 84 in the reserved category for the Goud community. The allotment process is being conducted through a lottery system to ensure transparency.

It may be recalled that the Prohibition and Excise officials issued gazette notifications and invited applications on August 18 for the open category and on August 20 for the reserved category. The deadline for submitting applications was August 29, 2025. By this deadline, 1,698 applications were received for the open category and 567 for the reserved category. Out of these, 1,657 applications for 388 open category bars and 564 applications for 78 reserved category bars were found to be valid and eligible for the draw.

The district-wise allocation of bars is as follows: Anantapur: 12, Annamayya: 8, Bapatla: 4, Chittoor: 5, Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema: 1, East Godavari: 9, Eluru: 10, Guntur: 52, Kakinada: 4, Krishna: 30, Kurnool: 19,Nandyal: 18, SPSR Nellore: 19, Sri Sathya Sai: 7, Srikakulam: 21, Tirupati: 26, Visakhapatnam: 72, Vizianagaram: 14, West Godavari: 18, and YSR Kadapa: 14.