UT finds bidders for 7 liquor vends, 21 still unsold after third auction
The UT Excise and Taxation Department today received a poor response to its auction for allotment of remaining 28 liquor vends in the city.
The department was able to get bids for only seven vends, while 21 remained unsold even after the third round of the auction. Officials said the remaining vends would again be put up for auction soon.
The department earned Rs 60.98 crore against the reserve price of Rs 41.08 crore in today’s auction. The highest bid of Rs 15 crore was received for the liquor vend located in Industrial Area, Phase I, Metal Works Market, against the reserve price of Rs 9.23 crore. The second highest bid of Rs 14.97 crore was made for the vend located on the Himalayan Marg in Sector 22 against the reserve price of Rs 4.61 crore. The third highest bid of Rs 9.55 crore was received for a vend located in Industrial Area, Phase I, near Central Mall. It had the reserve price of Rs 8.07 crore.
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 liquor vends. The department earned 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.
As per Clause 21 of the policy, each successful bidder is required to furnish a bank guarantee amounting to 15% of the licence fee within seven working days of the allotment. Non-compliance leads to cancellation of the allotment and forfeiture of the security deposit.
