Day 1: No takers for six liquor units in Baddi

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, March 18

No bidders came forward for six liquor units comprising 37 vends in Baddi on the first day of the annual auction for the next financial year today.

Additional Excise and Taxation Commission DC Negi, under whose chairmanship the bids were invited at Baddi, said since about 20 liquor vends had been closed following the apex court directions, only 37 were being auctioned for the next financial year. The court has ordered closure of vends located within a distance of 500 m from national highways.

He said though some bidders did come, none put forth their bids for the vends and they would now decide the next auction date.

A revenue of Rs 73 crore is being expected from the auction of these six units. There were about 55 to 60 vends in the area last year and since they earned a revenue of Rs 63 crore, the vends were readily sold. The sharp reduction in the number of vends following the apex court directions and a corresponding increase in the reserve price from Rs 63 crore to Rs 73 crore has reduced the viability of the remaining six units.

This is acting as a deterrent as the bidders feel doing away with liquor vends along national highways will make the business unviable and they will not be able to earn the targeted revenue of Rs 73 crore.

Auctioning the vends under such circumstances with a sizeable increase in the revenue has become a tedious task for officials who feel they will have to scale down the reserve price.