Visitors can buy alcohol in India’s dry state Gujarat. Here’s how

I have only been in Gujarat four days and it’s been good to me so far. I’m staying in the northern part of Ahmedabad and I love the smooth, wide roads and less traffic. But let me get to the point.

In this west Indian state, most people stay away from non-vegetarian food and there exists a ban on alcohol.

Before you decide to never come here, let me tell you non-vegetarian food is not hard to access and tourists are eligible to buy alcohol in the state in a totally legal way. I will, in this post tell you the story of how I legally bought alcohol in Ahmedabad.

What you need

The first thing to remember is don’t lose your boarding pass after you’ve landed. Keep it safe (you shouldn’t throw it away from some time anyway) for you will need it to prove, along with other documents, that you are a tourist.

Apart from that, you will need a couple of government IDs. I used my driving licence and my PAN card. You will also need a passport size picture (soft copy will do). If you are employed, a company ID with your local address will also help.

So, here’s what you will need:

  1. Boarding pass/inter state bus ticket/train ticket/highway toll receipt. Basically a transportation receipt to prove your arrival date.
  2. Two government IDs (interestingly, Aadhaar isn’t in the options). I used driving licence (physical card) and PAN card(soft copy). Voter card works as well.
  3. Soft copy of a passport-size picture.
  4. Local address proof. I used the gas bill of the friend I’m staying with. A hotel booking confirmation voucher should work.

How to apply

Visitors to the state can apply for the liquor permit within four days of their arrival in Gujarat.

Visit the state home department’s E-permit portal and set up a profile. Just follow the instructions and upload soft copies of relevant documents where required.

At the end, make the INR70 payment via netbanking or cards. There are no extra charges if you do it via netbanking. Using cards invite a small extra charge.

Once payment is through, your liquor permit is ready to download. Take a printout of the same when you visit the liquor store.

Validity

A permit is valid for seven days and it can be extended thrice. So basically, you can be eligible to buy alcohol for a maximum of four weeks.

Evidently, the Gujarat government doesn’t consider someone staying for more than a month in the state a “visitor”.

An alcohol-selling counter in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Where to buy

Alcohol shops are usually present in high-end hotels. A search on the Internet will tell you the one nearest to you. Once you go there and state your intention, an excise inspector will ask to see your permit.

Once you furnish that, you may be asked to show a job/business ID with an address outside of Gujarat. Once they are satisfied, you are a legitimate permit-holder, they will let you through to the off-shop.

At the off-shop, the person at the counter will examine your permit again. I didn’t have a printout and emailed them my permit. The guy made a printout himself without question.

I choose my booze – a blended Scotch called Old Smuggler – and we were done.

An important point to note is alcohol is quite expensive here as compared to other Indian states. This is thanks to the 65 per cent VAT Gujarat levies on booze.

Ceilings

You should know that even with a permit, there is a ceiling on the amount of alcohol you can buy during each seven day slot.

According to my friend who has been living in Gujarat for years, in every seven-day period a visitor with a liquor permit may buy one of the following options.

  1. One 750ml bottle of hard liquor – whiskey/gin/rum/vodka and the like
  2. Three bottles of wine
  3. Ten 650ml bottles of beer
  4. A combination of beer/wine and small bottle of hard liquor. This can be bought at the same time or different times. The seller will calculate and tell you what and how much of each you can buy

Quite a bit of unnecessary hassle, yes. But when you’ve gotta drink, you’ve gotta drink 😉

Hope that helps!

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14 thoughts on “Visitors can buy alcohol in India’s dry state Gujarat. Here’s how

  1. I made permit and paid 100 rs fee for it but still print out shows off line payment. I have receipt of payment. will it work there. I am reaching Ahmadabad on 22 nov 19.

  2. V R AUSTRALIAN PR(INDEFINITE STAY RIGHTS). WHEN I APPLIED FOR E PERMIT I ENTERED MY AUSTRALIA MOBILE NO BUT THEY DONT ACCEPT THIS NUMBER. WHAT CAN I DO?

  3. does anyone know, if you upload wrong document and edit option is greyed out to upload another docuement, how to make the changes in your application ?

    I am facing very weird issue, i need to upload residential proof but now edit option is greyed out and liquor shops are not able verify the permit and said that i wont get permit as you have uploaded wrong document. is there any contact details or email id i can contact to amend it ?

    I really appreciate if you please advise me what should i do as i am not able to verify my permit in the store and unable to upload documents to get permit.

  4. I came to india from usa on march 03/2020 and after some days lockdown started so i can’t get epermit for liquor, can i do application now or not?

    1. Wine Shop in Fortune Hotel, Gujrat charging Rs.200/- per permit as well other then 65% and that is too in Cash without Receipt😳😠

  5. Absolutely useless government website!! I have paid 5 times and and still shows offline. And when you take the offline printout to the shop in gandhinagar, Hotel Haveli, they are even worse. They don’t understand how it works.

  6. It is a pathetic website to get the permit online.
    Permit fees gets deducted and system throws error message.
    You will never get back that amount. It’s an income of Govt.

    They don’t entertain offline payment. It’s a very pathetic system in the state of Gujrat

  7. Very pathetic way for payment. You will have to pay 100 Rs. More than 4,5 times as a payment after that payment status will get success. You have to also pay 65 % VAT tax for during purchase. There are not any way for reconcilation of extra fee deduct during permit. So you have to pay more 100 Rs. for the permit fee. Where fee is only 10 Rs.

  8. I am Indian citizen permenantly residing at Ahmedabad Temperory visit of USA for five months can I get liquor permit of Gujarat please guide me.I

  9. I am Gujarati and my all documents are from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I am working in Bangladesh since last 7 years on Employment visa.
    I am coming to Ahmedabad after every 4-6 month interval in a year regularly for 15-20 days.
    Can I get tourist or visitor permit to get liquor??

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