No takers for 10 liquor vends, only 1 sold in sixth e-auction by Excise Department
The UT Excise and Taxation Department again received a poor response to the sixth round of e-auction for the allotment of the remaining 11 liquor vends today. The department managed to auction only one liquor vend located in Industrial Area, Phase I, and earned a revenue of Rs 4.50 crore against the reserve price of Rs 4.38 crore.
The department has earned a record profit from the auction of liquor vends this time. This year, it has earned 35 per cent more revenue than last year. So far, the department has raked in Rs 526 crore from the auction of 85 liquor vends, while last year it had got only Rs 413 crore. Twelve vends are yet to be auctioned, as the allottees of two more liquor vends have failed to deposit the bank guarantee.
Out of 97 liquor vends, 85 have been auctioned so far. The department officials estimated that this year, they would earn more than Rs 600 crore from the auction of liquor vends, which would be about 50 per cent more than last year.
In the fifth round of auction held on May 14, the department was able to allot only six liquor vends out of 17 units and earned a revenue of Rs 39.60 crore against the reserve price of Rs 24.32 crore.
In the fourth round of action held on May 8, the department managed to auction 11 liquor vends out of the 21 units and earned a revenue of Rs 60.76 crore against the reserve price of Rs 47.97 crore. It was able to auction only seven vends out of 28 during the third round of the auction on April 29.
On April 21, the department put up 48 liquor vends, the licences of which were cancelled for the non-payment of bank guarantee, for auction. It managed to find bidders for only 20 units, earning Rs 131 crore against the total reserve price of Rs 109 crore.
On March 21, the department had allotted 96 liquor vends out of a total of 97 through an e-auction and generated Rs 606 crore. However, the department had cancelled the licences of 48 vends. It earned Rs 23 crore by forfeiting the earnest money and security deposits of these defaulters.
The Department had recently blacklisted seven highest bidders who have failed to deposit the requisite security money within the prescribed deadlines for various retail sale licensing units auctioned recently through e-tendering. Of seven retail sale licensing units, four were located in Sector 22 and one each in Sector 20, Industrial Area Phase I and Manimajra opposite Shivalik Garden.
