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Liquor vend in Chandigarh’s Dhanas goes for highest-ever bid of ₹12.78 crore
Located near Mohali’s Mullanpur, the liquor vend in Dhanas sees heavy footfall of buyers looking for liquor cheaper than Punjab
A liquor vend in Dhanas, bordering the Mullanpur area of Mohali, raked in the highest-ever bid of ₹12.78 crore at an auction conducted by the UT excise and taxation department on Tuesday.
Even last year, this vend had fetched the department ₹11.55 crore, the highest bid until then. This year, its reserve price was ₹10.39 crore.
The auction of a total of 72 vends, having a reserve price of ₹344.70 crore in all, helped the department earn ₹420.88 crore.
The department had received 142 bids for 72 of the total 96 vends to be auctioned this year. The remaining 24 vends will be put up for sale later this month.
In 2021-22, the department had earned ₹446.58 crore from the sale of 90 of the 96 vends.
An official said no single entity was allotted more than 10 vends. “The Dhanas vend is located near the Punjab border. So, it sees heavy footfall of customers from the neighbouring state, as liquor in Chandigarh is relatively cheaper. Similar trend has been noticed at the vends adjoining Panchkula and Mohali as well,” the official added.
Under the UT excise policy 2022-2023, the retail vends were auctioned through e-tendering system for more transparency. The EMD (earnest money deposit) was also reduced for better participation.
While the revenue target from various sources for outgoing fiscal was around ₹700 crore, the projected revenue for the upcoming fiscal is around ₹830 crore.
Highest bid for the third time
This is the third time that the liquor vend in Dhanas was the top seller. Apart from 2022 and last year, the vend’s selling price of ₹10.78 crore in 2019-20 was also the highest.
However, in 2020-21, a liquor vend in Sector 9 topped the chart with a bid of ₹7.56 crore, pushing the ₹7.05-crore offer for the Dhanas vend to the second spot.
In the auction on Tuesday, the vend in Palsora got the second-highest bid. It was sold for ₹11.61 crore against the reserve price of ₹5.71 crore.
Next on the list was a vend in the Sector-40D market that went for ₹9.85 crore against the reserve price of ₹6.11 crore. The fourth-highest offer was for a vend in Sector 30, which brought in ₹8.34 crore against the lowest offer price of ₹7.26 crore.
New excise policy to come in force from April 1
Under the 2022-23 excise policy, which will come into force on April 1, the administration has extended the timings for serving liquor up to 3 am in restaurants, bars and hotels on payment of additional fee. Also, the 3- and 4-star hotels, in addition to existing 5-star hotels, after payment of additional fees, will be allowed to serve liquor 24x7.
To promote low alcoholic drinks, UT has allowed the sale of imported ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages in the city, while not increasing the licence fees and duties on beer, wine and Indian RTD beverages. However, the excise duty on Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) has been hiked by 5.5%, which is likely to lead to 10% to 12% increase in rates.
It has also levied e-vehicle cess from ₹2 to ₹40 per bottle.
The minimum retail price of light and strong beer has been increased by ₹10. The MRP of country liquor has also been hiked by ₹10 to ₹25 depending upon category.
Covid rebate, such as pro-rata reversal of licence fees, as given last year, will continue for all retail vends, bars, restaurants, hotels, clubs, etc.
For countrymade liquor, 65 proof has been introduced, apart from the existing 50 and 60 proof to provide consumers more choice.
To curb the illegal sale of liquor, all bottles will be labelled with barcode, detailing information regarding its journey from manufacturer to retail stores as part of a “Track and Trace” system.
Liquor vends not adhering to minimum retail price will be sealed for three days in case of first violation itself. Vendors selling expired liquor will have to pay a ₹50,000 penalty.
Manufacturers have been told to put pilfer-proof seals on countrymade liquor bottles.
UT has also made computerised billing mandatory by October 1, 2022, failing which a penalty of ₹5,000 will be imposed. For better surveillance, CCTV cameras need to be introduced at all retail vends by May 1.
