The Telangana state government has witnessed unprecedented rush from Seemandhra businessmen for setting up liquor shops in Telangana.

The Telangana government recently issued notification inviting applications to set up liquor shops.

It increased liquor shops from 2,216 to 2,620.

The last date to submit applications ended today (Thursday).

The government received nearly 60,000 applications for setting up 2,620 liquor shops.

The liquor shops will be allotted through a draw of lots.

Of the 60,000 applications, it is learnt that there are over 20,000 applications from liquor traders, who are natives of Andhra Pradesh.
Liquor traders from Rayalaseema and Andhra regions submitted applications in huge numbers.

The rush is because of the Jagan government in Andhra Pradesh taking over liquor business after coming to power in 2019.

The AP government is running liquor shops on its own and not issuing licences to private individuals unlike earlier prior to 2019.

With this, liquor traders from AP are competing to set up shops in Telangana.

The application fees is Rs 2 lakh which is non-refundable, Despite this, the AP traders submitted applications in large numbers as
Telangana government has given a provision allowing each person to submit any number of applications.

The Telangana government has earned Rs 1,200 crore through application fees alone.