gandhinagar in the little over four months that the anandiben patel government has been in power seven new outlets in the state have been granted license to sell liquor incidentally no new liquor permits had been issued to any shop or hotel since 2008 according to sources 10 luxury hotels are also expected to get liquor permits shortly in view of the large number of foreign visitors expected for the vibrant gujarat global investors summit vggis and the pravasi bharatiya divas pbd celebrations scheduled for january 2015 highly placed sources in the state prohibition and excise department said that four top hotels in ahmedabadgrand bhagwati courtyard marriott metropole and regenta which is barely 500 meters from mahatma gandhis sabarmati ashramhad been given liquor licenses after the lok sabha elections this year further the itc hotel in gir radisson hotel in gandhidham and one more hotel in bhuj have also been given liquor permits after the general elections their applications were pending for a long time and as they met all the criteria they were given the licenses now the total number of licensed liquor outlets in the state has reached 34 a source said the sources further said that 30 more applications from premium hotelsincluding the 10 who are likely to get licenses soonare pending with the prohibition and excise department the state government is likely to further relax prohibition in gujarat because of pressure from the state tourism department said sources the industry and tourism department has constantly asked the state home department for relaxation in prohibition to boost tourism but the home department had refused now the tourism department is again pushing for relaxation in prohibition policy