3 min readApr 22, 2025 10:41 AM IST
First published on: Apr 22, 2025 at 10:41 AM IST
The e-auction of 48 liquor vends held in Chandigarh on Monday drew a mixed response, with the excise department managing to auction only 20 liquor vends out of 48 during the e-auction held here.
With this auction, the department earned a revenue of Rs 131 crore against the reserve price of nearly Rs 109 crore, witnessing a growth of nearly 19 per cent.
The auction was conducted at a private hotel in Sector 24, wherein Sector 61 liquor vend fetched the highest bid of Rs 12.31 crore against the reserve price of Rs 11.57 crore. The reserve prices of the vends were fixed on the basis of the previous highest bids. Apart from Sector-61 liquor vend, six liquor vends saw bids exceeding Rs 8 crore.
On March 21, the department had allotted 96 liquor vends out of a total of 97 through an e-auction and generated Rs 606 crore in licence fee against a reserve price of Rs 439 crore. In the previous round, several vends were auctioned but the highest bidders failed to deposit the required amount within the stipulated time. As a result, the excise department had to forfeit the security amounts and reissue tenders for those outlets. The department had earned nearly Rs 23 crore by forfeiting the earnest money and security deposits of the cancelled liquor vends.
However, the second round of tenders saw a lukewarm response, with fewer participants. As per sources, most of the vends saw participation from only one or two bidders and only one vend attracted bids from four different firms.
After the auction, Darshan Singh Kaler, president of the Chandigarh Wine Contractors Association, remarked that this time, the Excise Department conducted the process more transparently compared to the last round. However, he raised doubts over the credibility of the bidders for vends in Manimajra, Sector 22B, and Sector 22C, suggesting the bids placed were suspiciously high — almost 60 per cent to 80 per cent above expectations — and the bidder may not eventually deposit the remaining amount.
Interestingly, the two highest-value vends this year — Sector 61 and Khuda Lahora — were won by Darshan Singh Kaler himself, with bids of Rs 12.31 crore and Rs 10 crore respectively.
On March 26, the High Court had ordered the status quo on the allotment of vends. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for April 24.
The auction was conducted at a private hotel in Sector 24, wherein Sector 61 liquor vend fetched the highest bid of Rs 12.31 crore against the reserve price of Rs 11.57 crore. (Source: File) 
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