On Thursday, Tourism Minister of Andhra Pradesh, M. Srinivasa Rao, has asserted that the trading of foreign liquor in various bars and restaurants run by the state tourism was a part of a tourism promotion. It did not encourage liquor sale in any way

At a press conference organized by the A.P. Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) to declare the recommencement of boating activity in AP, the Minister explained that with tourists’ safety in mind, the department is all geared up to place a fool-proof mechanism. He said that the boating would re-start at Papikondalu in West Godavari district.

He also added that the government was interested on improving its tourism to draw more tourists worldwide. The pandemic had played a major role in destroying the sector with a revenue loss of around ₹150 crore in the last one-and-a-half years, he said.

To keep an eye on boating activity, in different locations, altogether nine control rooms had been established with the coordination of the Revenue, Water Resource and Tourism departments. Out of the total 300 boats operating in the Krishna and the Godavari, 52 were being run by the A.P. Tourism.