Chandigarh: Dhanas liquor vend fetches highest bid of Rs 12.78 crore

A Dhanas liquor vend fetched the highest bid of Rs 12.78 crore against the reserve price of Rs 10.39 crore in the auction of liquor vends of Chandigarh held here on Tuesday. Last year the same vend fetched Rs 11.55 crore against the reserve price of Rs 7.95 crore in the auction held in March, 2021. This vend is always in demand because it is just on the border of UT and Punjab. Prior to 2021, it fetched around Rs 7 crore. An analysis of the successful bidders this year revealed that no single entity got allotment of more than 10 vends.

In the first opening of e-tenders after the new policy came into operation for the excise policy year 2022-23, held at Hotel Parkview, Sector 24, Chandigarh, the Excise and Taxation Department received a total of 142 tenders electronically against 72 liquor vends/ licensing units that had a reserve price of a total of Rs 344.70 crore. The new policy aims for transparency and increasing the revenue of the state by use of technology.

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The Excise and Taxation Department collected a revenue of Rs 420.88 crore in licence fees. The department stated that they registered an increase of approximately 22.10 per cent over the reserve price and an increase of approximately 16 per cent over the last year bid amount. Last year, during the auction the excise and taxation department collected total revenue of Rs 398.04 crore in the form of license fees, registering an increase of approximately 25.44 per cent over the reserve price and received Rs 5.67 crore as participation fee. The department received 162 bids electronically against 80 liquor vends/licensing units that had a reserve price of Rs 317.31 crore.