Auctioning of liquor vends in Chandigarh faces challenges

In the second round of liquor vends' auction in Chandigarh, only 10 out of 46 unsold liquor vends were auctioned. In the first round, 51 liquor vends were auctioned. The second round of auction was organised on 15th March after only 51 of the total 97 liquor vends could be allotted in the first round of auction on 7th March.

Against the reserve price of Rs 36.79 crore for the 10 sold liquor vends in Chandigarh in the second round of auction, the department fetched just Rs 38.18 crore. From the auction of 51 liquor vends in the first round, the excise department of Chandigarh had earned Rs 243 crore against the reserve price of Rs 218 crore.

The next round of auction for the forthcoming fiscal will be on 23rd March 2024. The excise department of Chandigarh will reduce the reserve price of the leftover liquor vends to attract more bidders in the next round.

In the financial year 2023-24, the UT's excise department had failed to sell 18 of 95 liquor vends even after 20 auctions with multiple reserve price cuts. In the very first auction held on March 2023, the department found few takers. It managed to sell only 43 of the total 95 liquor vends in the first round of the last fiscal. Similar trend continued through the year.