7 liquor units sold in Solan

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, March 30

Officials of the Excise and Taxation Department managed to sell all seven liquor units in Solan for the next financial year by registering an increase of 20.92 per cent vis-à-vis revenue earned in the current financial year.

Though the auction was conducted in four rounds and the units were sold in fits and starts, the officials today managed to sell the entire stock as against other districts where contractors stayed away from the auction.

All seven units have been sold for Rs 82.87 crore as against the last year’s revenue of Rs 68.53 crore. A reserve price of Rs 78 crore had been fixed for the seven units after affecting a 15 per cent increase in the licence fee. With the apex court having banned liquor sale near the national and state highways within a radius of 500 m, the officials had a tough time selling the vends re-located in lesser remunerative locations. Since the major profitable vends had been done away with, the officials had to conduct as many as four rounds of auction to sell all units.

In Sirmaur district, the officials could barely sell five of the 19 units with liquor units worth Rs 9 crore having been sold out of the total Rs 48 crore.

Additional Commissioner KK Sharma said though they had enhanced the number of units from the initial six to 19 and carved out smaller units to ensure viability, not much success was received in the auctions today. “With barely a day left for the next financial year to begin, they are now banking on the state Cabinet to relax the norms,” added Sharma.

This was perhaps a rare occasion when the liquor auctions had caused a major commotion in the department and a majority of the vends had remained unsold till the eleventh hour. It remains to be seen what steps the state government will take to facilitate auctions across the state as several districts has witnessed less than 75 per cent sales till now.

Licensees, however, rued that the inimical excise policy was the reason behind lesser sales. They observed: “Super L1 constituted in the new policy was basically restricting the supply of liquor from an independent wholesale to a single entity. It is supposed to be a licence in which companies appoint an authorised dealer to ensure supply of liquor which in the process may or may not get discounts from the respective companies. If the manufacturer refuses to appoint such individual employees they are liable to punishment.”

In the excise announcement 2017-18 point 10.27, it was stated that if the supply was hampered or the authorised agent was not appointed, the licence of companies could be cancelled and brands de-registered without any responsibility of HP Beverages Limited to release the payments for the stock received.