5th liquor vend auction in Chandigarh, same result

Chandigarh, April 6

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Even after reducing reserve prices thrice, the UT Excise and Taxation Department continues to get poor response to its liquor vend auctions. The department managed to sell only four of the remaining 29 vends in its fifth auction held today.

Against the four liquor vends having a reserve price of Rs 19.90 crore, the department collected total revenue of Rs 20.40 crore in the shape of licence fee in today’s e-auction.

The liquor vend at Sector 47-C fetched the highest bid of Rs 7 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 6.73 crore. The other vends auctioned were located at the Sector 7 and 25 markets and Sector 44-D. Of the 95 liquor vends, 70 have been auctioned so far, while 25 still remain unsold.

The department has received a total bid amount of Rs 354.95 crore against reserve price of Rs 330.87 crore from total allotted 70 liquor vends, registering a total increase of 7.28% over the reserve price.

The department is now in the process of inviting fresh tenders for the sixth round of bidding on April 11 for the leftover vends by further slashing the reserve price by 12% to 20%.

During the fourth auction held on March 31, seven liquor vends were auctioned out of 36. In the four auctions held on March 15, 21, 27 and 31, the department could managed to sell only 66 vends.

For financial year 2023-24, the department has fixed a target of Rs 830 crore for liquor vends’ licence fee. But from the first three auctions, it earned only Rs 334 crore, leaving a revenue gap of Rs 496 crore. Last year, the department had held seven auctions, yet three of the 96 vends went unsold.

The liquor vend at Dhanas, located near Mullanpur, which fetched the highest bid in the past two years failed to find takers this time again. Last year, the vend had received the highest-ever bid of Rs12.78 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 10.39 crore, whereas in 2021, the vend had again received the highest bid of Rs 11.55 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 7.95 crore.