Chandigarh: Of 97 liquor vends, 51 sold in first auction

Chandigarh, March 7

The UT Excise and Taxation Department received a lukewarm response to its first round of auction today for the allotment of liquor vends under the 2023-24 Excise Policy. The department was able to sell only 51 vends, out of a total of 97 vends.

After a gap of one year, the Dhanas liquor vend received the highest bid of Rs 9.17 crore against the reserve price of Rs 8.32 crore.

The liquor vend in Dhanas, which had remained unsold last year, received two bids this time. In 2023-24, its reserve price was fixed at Rs 11.53 crore, which has been brought down to Rs 8.32 crore for 2024-25. Before 2023, the vend had received the highest bids for three consecutive years.

The lowest bid of Rs 1.81 crore was received for the liquor vend at Kaimbala village against the reserve price of Rs 1.60 crore.

The department received a total of 86 bids for 48 licensing units (with 51 retail outlets) and earned Rs 243.84 crore against the reserve price of Rs 218.66 crore — an increase of 11.53% (over the reserve price) and of 10% (over the last year licence fee).

Besides, the department received the highest bid of Rs 12.77 crore for two retail vends at Industrial Area, Phase 1, against the reserve price of Rs 9.78 crore. Also, an increase of 53% over the reserve price has been recorded for the retail vend at the Sector 36 market with a bid of Rs 5.63 crore against the reserve price of Rs 3.66 crore.

The department is gearing up to continue the allotment process for the remaining vends. The next round of auction of retail vends would be held on March 15. The prospective bidders may apply on e-tender portal from March 8 onwards, till 12noon on March 15. The reserve price of the remaining 46 liquor vends is Rs 233 crore.

For the financial year 2024-25, the department has decided to give 84 licences and increase the number of vends from 95 to 97. The total reserve price of all these vends has been fixed at Rs 452.29 crore.

For the first time, UT has also decided that any liquor vend remaining unsold will be run by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Limited (CITCO).

Having failed to allot 18 vends, out of a total of 95 vends, despite 20 rounds of auctions under the Excise Policy 2023-24, the department has reduced the reserve prices of certain liquor vends in 2024-25 policy.