Process for auctioning 97 liquor vends begins in Chandigarh
With an aim to generate Rs 800 crore in 2025-26 financial year, the UT Excise and Taxation Department today started the process for auctioning 97 liquor vends in the city.
According to officials, the process to submit bids started at 10 am and would conclude till 2 pm on March 20. The bids would be opened at 10 am on March 21.
The prices of liquor are likely to remain unchanged with the Department not increasing the ex-distillery price in the Excise Policy. The policy will be applicable from April 1 and remain in force till March 31, 2026.
For the 2025-26 fiscal, 97 licensing units will be auctioned by the Excise Department and each of these will be permitted to have one retail vend. The total reserve price of all 97 retail vends has been fixed at Rs 443.56 crore, which is Rs 8.78 crore less compared to the current fiscal.
The reserve price of the liquor vend at Palsora village, neighbouring Mohali, has been fixed at Rs 10.22 crore and for the vend in Dhanas at Rs 8.71 crore. The Khuda Lahora vend has the reserve price of Rs 7.56 crore.
Way off the Rs 1,000-crore target for the current financial year, the department is able to generate nearly Rs 743 crore. Twelve vends remained unsold. Sources said the department had set a revenue target of Rs 800 crore for the next financial year.
Meanwhile, women residents of Sukhna Enclave have demanded shifting of two liquor vends facing each other in the area.
In a letter to the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator and the Punjab Chief Minister, Lata Dua, a resident of the enclave, stated that the two liquor shops were located near the entrance of Sukhna Enclave on either side of the main road to Kaimbwala village in Chandigarh and Kansal village in Mohali.
Traffic chaos amid merry-making by labourers was a routine every evening and women and children feared to cross road due to traffic hazards and open-air pubs, she added.
The unruly conduct of these individuals disturbs the peaceful environment of the neighborhood, especially during the evenings and late at night, she added.
