Excise Department churns out Rs 6.07 crore

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 29

The recent ban imposed by the Supreme Court on the sale of liquor on state and national highways and also a decrease of 14 per cent liquor quota in Punjab-made liquor (PML) and 20 per cent in the Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) announced by the state government have prevented many people from participating in liquor vend auctions held by the Punjab Excise Department at Red Cross Bhawan today.

The department today held an auction of its 1,276 liquor vends in the district and collected around Rs 6.07 crore as initial payment. Though big players, including Chadha Group, Doda Group and AV traders, secured major zones in the municipal limits and rural areas, small players kept themselves away from the annual auction, citing huge losses incurred by them in the current financial year. Liquor business queen Jasdeep Kaur Chadha alone got five out of the six zones from the municipal area.

Though the department faced a huge criticism due to the new excise policy announced recently, it managed to end the auction on a higher figure today due to the huge participation of the big players and also a rise in the excise duty. Last year, the department earned around Rs 326.88 crore from Jalandhar I and Jalandhar II zones, it is expected to earn around Rs 357.54 crore as licence fee in the financial year 2017-18.

However, the number of participants fell own to a new low this year. Last year, the department earned Rs 34 crore as lottery fee. However, it could hardly earn Rs 11 crore this year. As compared to 1,100 applications the department received from across the district last year, there were only 312 applicants this year for all 14 zones, including six in the municipal limits. While the department received 80 applications for municipal zones, it received 232 applications for rural zones.

Divisional Excise and Taxation Commissioner (DETC) BK Virdi said due to the ban on the sale of liquor on national and state highways, the department was soon going to prune down around 8 per cent of the liquor vend shops falling in the vicinity of 500 metres from the highways.

The zones having a strong web of national and state highways saw less bidders this year. In Phillaur and Adampur, only single company made the bid. In Phillaur, Surinder Singh was declared the successful bidder who got the contract for Rs 21.39 crore while Surjit Singh got Adampur zone for Rs 17.46 crore).

However, maximum bidders (113) came for the Nurmahal zone which does not have any state or national highway passing through to it. Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar Varinder Kumar Sharma initiated the auction process in the presence of the media, applicants and the public. Along with him, Additional Deputy Commissioner (development) Girish Dayalan and other senior officials were also present. More surprisingly, a majority of the draws were taken out by mediapersons.

Successful Bidders

Jalandhar-1

Bus stand ( Rs 37.37 crore), Maqsudan Zone ( Rs 37.75 crore), Cantt Zone ( Rs 38.50 crore) and Railway Station Zone: Jasdeep Kaur Chadha ( Rs 38.25 crore)

Model House Zone: Milap Chand Rana ( Rs 33 crore)

Adarsh Nagar Zone: Gurpret Singh ( Rs 37.75 crore)

Phillaur Zone: Surinder Singh ( Rs 21.39)

Goraya: AV Traders ( Rs 17.12 crore)

Jalandhar-2

Bhogpur Zone: Kashmiri Lal ( Rs 17.43 crore)

Nakodar-1: Avinash Doda ( Rs 13.78 crore)

Adampur Zone: Surjit Singh ( Rs 17.46 crore)

Nakodar-2: Doaba Wine and Company ( Rs 13.67 crore)

Shahkot Zone: BKD Wine Company ( Rs 13.25 crore)

Nurmahal Zone: Navneet Airi ( Rs 17.79 crore)

Ticket Fee

2016-17 Rs 34 crore

2017-18  Rs 11 crore

Annual revenue

2016-17: Rs 326.88 cr

2017-18 (Expected): Rs 357.54 cr