Belt shops thriving even in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: It is not that belt shops are common only in rural areas, thandas and lesser settlements on the fringes of Telangana’s districts. Belt shops are thriving even right in the state’s capital.

Over 2,000 illegal sale counters are serving liquor round the clock to the tipplers and guzzlers in different parts of the Greater Hyderabad limits. According to sources, the majority of these belt shops are run by the aides of licensed liquor shop owners.

The enforcement wing of the Excise and Prohibition Department prefers to look the other way, instead of clamping down the illegal sale of liquor, as the wine shop owners have forewarned them that liquor sales would plummet if the belt shops shut their operations. In the Greater Hyderabad limits, over 300 licensed liquor shops are selling all kinds of permitted liquor brands including cheap liquor, beer, brandy, whisky, vodka, and scotch supplied by the Telangana Beverages Corporation Limited.

The monthly turnover of the liquor outlets in the greater city limits is more than Rs 1,000 crore, as per estimates.

“Nearly 15 per cent of the turnover has been reported from the belt shops which are selling liquor day and night at identified spots in the city,” according to a source. Officials said that Uppal, Nagole, Saroornagar, BN Reddy Nagar, Miyapur, AS Rao Nagar, ECIL, Goshamahal, Malkajgiri, Saidabad and Ameerpet are among the “hot spots”, where illegal local liquor vends flourish in the city. Some people say the menace of belt shops was high during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi regime. The new government, which assumed office in December 2023, had put “some efforts” to shutter the illegal liquor selling centers in Hyderabad limits. Extensive raids were conducted and almost all belt shops were closed.

However, after the new auction of the liquor shops in November 2025, the belt shops mushroomed once again, with the Excise enforcement wing also drastically reducing raids. For the sake of records, a few raids were conducted in the last one year, though there was no major breakthrough in the drive to close the illegal liquor shops.

“The main reason is the licenced wine shop dealers, who are operating many of the belt shops to increase their sales. In view of high licence fee and “monthly maintenance costs” of the wine shops, the dealers are encouraging the opening of belt ships in their operational area to get more returns on their huge investment”, a top excise official told ‘The Hans India’ on the condition of anonymity. Nexus between the Excise department and wine shop dealers cannot be ruled out since the government is targeting to generate huge revenues from liquor sales. The contribution of belt shops to achieve revenue targets is significant, it is said.

However, the 24/7 availability of liquor at unauthorised shops is luring youth, who soon become addicted to alcohol. Some sections of people, mainly GHMC sanitation workers, who start their work in the early morning and auto workers, are consuming more spirits by purchasing from the belt shops in the odd hours.

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The Hans India