Varanasi: Women may own a chunk of liquor business in Varanasi, but buying liquor is not easy for them.According to excise department records for 2026-27, out of 677 licences issued for retail liquor shops in the district, 234 (34.56%) are allotted to women.However, several shops bar women, and cops in uniform, from buying and consuming liquor in Kashi, despite no such embargo by the excise department, which restricts only those who are below 21 years of age.In the Kandwa Chitaipur area of the district, the licence of a vend is issued in the name of a woman, but a notice at the shop restricts women from purchasing liquor from there.“Women and people in uniform will not be sold liquor,” reads a four-point notice board painted on a wall of the shop.The board displays the owner’s name and licence number at the main counter. The licensee could not be contacted as, despite repeated requests, the salesman refused to provide her number. He said the instructions were posted on the wall by the shop’s operator.The salesman said such instructions could be found at other shops too.District excise officer Kamal Kumar Shukla said, “Except for those below 21 years of age, anyone can buy liquor from a licensed shop.” Shukla said he was not aware of instructions against the sale of liquor to women on display at the retail vends.Excise department earned Rs 1,496 crore revenue in 2025-26 through sale of 20,725,218 litres of country liquor, 13,252,174 bottles of foreign liquor and 33,105,396 beer cans.Compared to the figures of 2024-25, an increase of 18.34% in revenue collection was registered in foreign liquor, 7.21% in country liquor and 0.17% in beer.
