96 liquor vends to be auctioned in Chandigarh

The Chandigarh excise and taxation department is putting 96 liquor vends on auction for the next fiscal, up from 94 in 2020-21.

The e-auction will begin on March 10 and bids can be submitted till March 18. The results will be declared on March 19.

The highest reserve price of ₹7.95 crore has been set for a liquor vend in Dhanas. In 2019-2020, it had fetched the department ₹10.78 crore, highest among all vends. Last year, too, it went for ₹7.05 crore, the second-highest bid.

Other vends with the highest reserve price this year are at Khuda Lahora/ Khuda Jassu ( ₹6.75 crore) and Sector 30 ( ₹6.4 crore). Vends near Chandigarh’s border with neighbouring states generally fetch high bids as liquor in the city is cheaper than in Mohali and Panchkula.

Meanwhile, the reserve price of a vend in Sector 9, which had fetched the highest bid of ₹7.56 crore last year, is ₹6.1 crore. To curb the menace of cartelisation and monopolistic practices, a single entity of firms/companies/individuals will be entitled to allotment of up to a maximum of 10 vends.

In the Chandigarh Excise Policy 2021-2022 announced on Wednesday, the administration has decided to keep the licence fee and excise duty on beer and wine unchanged. On the Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL), the duty has been increased by 6%, which is expected to increase the prices of popular liquor brands by 10-12%.