Porbandar is recognized not just for its notorious mafia past but as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi—the apostle of nonviolence whose legacy still shapes India. Because Gandhi was fiercely opposed to alcohol, Porbandar, like the rest of Gujarat, has long borne the weight of official prohibition. For over six decades, even a legal permit holder had no avenue to buy alcohol officially in town. Since for about two and half decades, buying a legal drink here meant traveling to Rajkot or Jamnagar. Before that it was travelling 460 kilometres to Ahmedabad.
Now, Porbandar is all set to have its’ first liquor permit room. It will come up in a local hotel where legal permit holders can buy their prescribed booze quota. The alcohol permit lists the quantity a person can consume and buy. The permit room, sources claim will come up in one of the four local hotels reportedly singled out. These include Lords Inn, The Fern Residency, The Fern Leo Beach Resort or Hotel Kaveri International. Gujarat currenty has about 31 permit rooms with maximum in Ahmedabad. This will be Porbandar’s first.
Of course, like other places in Gujarat, lack of permit room was never an issue in procuring alcohol. Prohibition in Gujarat is largely cosmetic and a lucrative money making tool for boot leggers (who often call themselves export import businessmen), politicians and most importantly the police.
Gujarat ranks among India’s highest alcohol-consuming states. Prohibition has driven liquor business underground, spawning a lucrative shadow economy. Bootleggers, politicians and complicit officials profit handsomely, while ordinary drinkers risk harassment and humiliation. English-speaking deliveries and premium international brands are available to those with connections.
A proposal to allow a liquor outlet in Gandhi’s birthplace marks the most symbolic crack yet in Gujarat’s 65-year prohibition wall. Sources confirm that the Porbandar’s first official alcohol permit room will stock and sell foreign and Indian liquor to permit holders. Besides permit holders, foreign nationals can also buy alcohol after procuring a temporary permit which is not hassle some. The Porbandar permit room plan is cautious—just one hotel, for permit holders only, and expansion only if order prevails. But for a city so closely tied to Gandhi’s memory, the symbolism is explosive. Like elsewhere in Gujarat, permit holders can only buy liquor from the permit room. They cannot consume it there. It is mandatory that all permit rooms have cctv cameras that monitor what permit holders buy.
Gujarat’s prohibition isn’t just policy—it’s a monument. The law, first enforced in 1949 and preserved when Gujarat became a separate state in 1960, was conceived as a tribute to Gandhi. The emotional architecture of prohibition has always made it almost impossible to challenge—any debate carried the risk of being seen as sacrilege. Politicians, even those aware of the economic costs, have shied away from questioning it.
Only thing that can help change the prohibition policy is business in Gujarat. In December 2023, Gujarat’s BJP government amended the law to allow alcohol sales and consumption in GIFT City, a special economic zone designed as a global finance hub. The rationale was openly economic: to attract investors and professionals. In 2025, the rules were eased further, allowing anyone from outside Gujarat or any foreign national to drink in GIFT City’s designated spaces with just a valid photo ID, no permit required. These exceptions are carefully fenced off, but each one pushes the boundary a little further.
Porbandar’s proposal is different. GIFT City is new, insulated, purpose-built. Porbandar is old India—Gandhi’s India. Allowing a liquor outlet here is not just about convenience for permit holders; it’s about whether Gujarat is prepared to lower a flag that’s been draped in Gandhi’s name for 65 years. The joke in Gujarat is that had Gandhi been alive he would have been awestruck at the rampant corruption involving alcohol and prohibition and maybe he would have changed his mind and given up his insistence on alcohol abstinence.
The question comes at a time when prohibition’s costs are impossible to ignore. Lifting prohibition policy in Gujarat can make Gujaratis perhaps drink more responsibly. A senior doctor associated with Apollo Hospital in Gujarat tells Vibes of India that Gujarat has more tops the country in alcohol inducted liver transplants. Scores of poor people die annually drinking spurious liquor called Lathha. Meanwhile, the state loses an estimated Rs 30 billion in revenue every year. This translates into black earning for boot leggers, politicians and police. Some media personnel also get a few stray crumbs from the booty. The permit system itself is surreal: foreigners and non-residents can buy liquor from 35 stores state wide, but must surrender unused bottles to the district collector when their permit expires. Defence services personnel are always in demand because they have access to subsidised liquor from their canteens. Sometimes, this is sold at higher prices in the open market.
Mahatma Gandhi had himself acknowledged that prohibition without voluntary support would be difficult to sustain, but insisted that made total prohibition more necessary, not less. Six decades later, the argument remains unsettled.
Attempts to open a liquor outlet in Porbandar have failed before amid local opposition. This time, the proposal has administrative backing and is framed as a minor procedural change—permit holders already have the right to obtain liquor, so why not spare them a journey? But the symbolic stakes are higher than ever.
Administratively, Porbandar’s change is small. Symbolically, it’s seismic: another stone pried loose from a law that has always been more monument than policy. The real question is not just whether alcohol will come to Porbandar, but whether Gujarat is finally, quietly, beginning to fold the flag of prohibition.
Also Read: “My Son Is A Drunkard. He Drank Alcohol. Save Him From Dying Please”Illiterate Woman says Gujarat Govt Should Not Lie That Her Son Drank Chemical https://www.vibesofindia.com/my-son-is-a-drunkard-he-drank-alcohol-save-him-from-dying-pleaseilliterate-woman-says-gujarat-govt-should-not-lie-that-her-son-drank-chemical/
