New Delhi, The excise department in Delhi has intensified its crackdown on illegal liquor, registering 816 FIRs and seizing around 1.5 lakh bottles of illicit liquor between January 1, 2025 and March 3, 2026, according to government data.

The figures suggest a sharp rise in enforcement compared with previous years. Data shows that 859 FIRs were registered between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024, by the Excise Intelligence Bureau .

As of early March 2026, more than 800 FIRs have already been registered, suggesting that enforcement has risen considerably compared to previous years, with over nine months remaining in the calendar year.

This renewed effort by the department follows strict instructions issued by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in April 2025. Gupta convened a high-level meeting with excise department officials regarding illegal liquor supply, directing them to eliminate the unlawful distribution of liquor in the national capital.

According to the latest data, from April 2025 to the end of January 2026, the EIB registered 436 cases of public drinking under Section 40 and made 540 arrests.

The EIB is the wing of the department responsible for checking inter-state smuggling, detecting the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor and checking the serving of illegal liquor at unlicensed premises.

“The department has been taking extensive drives against the smuggling of illegal liquor and supplies at unlicensed premises,” an official said. So far, 150,353 bottles of illegal liquor have been seized during the current financial year of 2025-26, the data says.

The excise department routinely tests samples of liquor and spirits at its excise control laboratory. From April 1, 2025, to January 1, 2026, the lab tested a total of 7,543 samples. The department also plans to renovate its in-house testing lab.

Additionally, the excise department has collected a revenue of ₹4,992.69 crore as of January 31, 2026. “It reflects steady progress toward the annual target of ₹6000 crore for the year 2025-26,” officials said.

Currently, the excise department has granted 178 wholesale licenses, and 810 liquor retail outlets are operational across the city. The department is also developing a mobile application called ‘e-Abkari App’ to provide consumers with information on the location of liquor vends.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.