Excise Department auctions remaining liquor vends

Tribune News Service

Solan, May 26

The Excise and Taxation Department on Monday sold the remaining liquor vends in four excise districts – Sirmaur, Shimla, Nurpur and Kangra – for Rs 71.04 crore as against their reserve price of Rs 91.04 crore for the financial year 2020-2021.

The auction had been put on hold following the nationwide lockdown since the last week of March.

Notably, the last financial year was extended up to May 31 and the new fiscal for excise has been notified from June 1.

In Shimla, the liquor vends were sold for Rs 2.30 crore as against the price of Rs 2.51 crore while in Nurpur they were sold at Rs 6.03 crore as against the price of Rs 7.72 crore.

In Kangra, the remaining vends were sold for Rs 4.80 crore as against the price of Rs 29 crore while in Sirmaur district, the officials managed to add Rs 35.52 crore to the department’s kitty as against the price of Rs 45.52 crore.

Principal Secretary, Excise and Taxation, Sanjay Kundu said all retail liquor vends had been sold out now without any negotiations. 

Against a business of Rs 1,190 crore, vends worth Rs 1,180 crore have been successfully sold.

Kundu added that except for vends sold on Monday, all others were sold at par with the reserve price.

Last year, the retail liquor business was valued at Rs 1,085 crore and after negotiation the price was reduced by Rs 126 crore. The net worth of the liquor business was hence reduced to Rs 959 crore as against this year’s business of Rs 1,180 crore.   

The state government has permitted liquor vends to operate in the state from May 4.