A liquor vend at Palsora village, located on the Mohali border, has received the highest bid of Rs 14 crore during the first e-auction under the Excise Policy for 2025-26 held today. The UT Excise and Taxation Department received 228 bids for 96 out of 97 liquor vends, with a reserve price of Rs 439.29 crore.
The total amount collected by the department was Rs 606.43 crore, which includes the license fee and Rs 4.56 crore in participation fees. This total was 36% higher than the reserve price. The highest bid of Rs 14 crore for the Palsora liquor vend was significantly above its reserve price of Rs 10.22 crore. However, the liquor vend in Sector 20 remained unsold this year.
In contrast to last year’s first round of e-tendering under the Excise Policy 2024-25, where only 50 licensing units were sold, this year’s auction received a much better response. Changes in the policy, such as allowing bars to procure liquor from retail vends, permitting inter-vend stock transfers within the same entity, and rationalising liquor quotas, contributed to the success of the auction. All bids were submitted online, with no manual bids accepted.
Ajay Jagga, an Excise and Taxation advocate and member of the Administrator’s Advisory Council, called the policy highly successful, noting that it had ensured transparency, efficiency, and a fair competitive environment, generating optimal revenue for the government while maintaining regulatory control.
However, local liquor vend contractors raised concerns about the auction process. Darshan Singh Kler, president of the Chandigarh Wine Contract Association, alleged that most of the vends were awarded to a firm from Madhya Pradesh, instead of being distributed among multiple contractors. He filed a complaint with the Excise Department, claiming that this could lead to monopolies and higher liquor prices.
Officials denied the allegations, stating that the policy limits a single entity or company to a maximum of 10 contracts to avoid cartelisation and monopolies, ensuring a fair and competitive environment. The goal of the policy, they said, was to boost the state’s revenue while keeping strict regulatory controls in place.
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