Chandigarh: Only 2 liquor vends sold in 10th round of auction

In the ninth round of auctions, held on May 1, no buyer came forward for any of the remaining 22 liquor vends, a repeat from the eighth round; during the seventh auction, Chandigarh was able to sell three liquor vends

Even after the UT excise and taxation department slashed the reserve prices by up to 30%, its 10 attempt to auction the 22 unsold liquor vends saw only two vends getting sold.

The liquor vends that got sold on Saturday are located in Sector 23 and Burail village of Chandigarh. (HT File Photo)

The vends that got sold on Saturday are located in Sector 23 and Burail village.

Now, of the total 95 vends in the city, 75 vends have been leased out and 20 vends remain unsold.

In the ninth round of auctions, held on May 1, no buyer came forward for any of the remaining 22 vends, a repeat from the eighth round. During the seventh auction, UT was able to sell three liquor vends, while in the sixth auction too, no bidders came forward.

Finding no takers for its liquor vends and left with no option but to slash the reserve price multiple times, the UT excise and taxation department is staring at a revenue gap of almost ₹430 crore this financial year (2023-24).

Officials from the department said the auction will be held again till the remaining vends were allotted.

Last year, the department had managed to sell 93 of the total 96 vends through seven auctions.

Notably, the liquor vend in Dhanas, located near Mullanpur, which fetched the highest bid for the last two years, has failed to attract buyers this time around.

Last year, the vend had received the highest-ever bid of ₹12.78 crore against the reserve price of ₹10.39 crore, whereas in 2021, it had fetched ₹11.55 crore against the reserve price of ₹7.95 crore.