Delhi: 12 liquor retail zones to go on auction today, bidding closes next week

The Delhi government is looking to double its excise revenue by bagging a record ₹10,000 crore in the first few months of the new liberalised liquor policy.

The auctioning for 12 liquor retail zones in the national capital Delhi is set to begin from Wednesday, August 25. The Delhi government floated fresh tenders for the auctioning licenses of these zones, the Hindustan Times had earlier reported. The bidding will close on September 2.

The auctioning of the 12 remaining liquor zones could not be held earlier due to the disqualification of the bidders at the last moment. (File Photo / HT)

The Delhi government is looking to double its excise revenue by bagging a record ₹10,000 crore in the first few months of the new liberalised liquor policy. Notably, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has already earned an amount of ₹5,300 crore from auctioning the alcohol licences for 20 of the city’s 32 liquor retail zones on August 5 and 6.

The auctioning of the 12 remaining liquor zones could not be held earlier due to the disqualification of the bidders at the last moment on technical grounds, which caused the Delhi government to issue fresh tenders. With the new set of bidding, the government is looking to raise around ₹3,180 crore from the auctioning of these 12 remaining liquor retail zones, according to an official who spoke to HT on the condition of anonymity. The aforementioned amount does not include another ₹650 crore that the government is looking to earn from excise duty, import fees, value-added tax, and other licence fees, the official said, adding that another ₹900 to ₹1,000 crore is expected to come from the licensing of new brands, distributor licenses, and the like.

The 12 zones to be put up for auction include localities such as Sarita Vihar, Shakarpur, Dakshinpuri, Anand Vihar, Tagore Garden, Vikaspuri, Trilokpuri-East, Badarpur, Timarpur, Nawada, Matiala, Rithala, Pitampura, Paschim Vihar, Lajpat Nagar, Jama Masjid, Paharganj, Najafgarh, Punjabi Bagh, Kasturba Nagar, Shastri Park, Mukherjee Nagar, Alipur, Narela, Ashok Vihar, IP Extension, Abul Fazl Enclave, Laxmi Nagar, Kalyanpuri, Sadar Bazar, Sriniwaspuri, Ballimaran, Deoli, and Pratap Nagar.

The annual reserve license fee for the zones ranges between ₹220 crore and ₹225 crore, according to documents seen by HT.