Chandigarh, April 30 — The Chandigarh excise and taxation department’s second attempt to auction 28 unsold liquor vends ended with underwhelming results, as only seven vends found buyers, leaving 21 still on the block.
The auction, held following the cancellation of 48 liquor licences earlier this month due to non-submission of ₹40 crore worth of mandatory bank guarantees, fetched nearly ₹60.98 crore in revenue against a reserve price of ₹41.08 crore.
The highest bid—₹15 crore—was placed for a vend located in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, Metal Works Market, significantly above its reserve price of ₹9.23 crore.
The second highest bid was ₹14.97 crore for a vend on Himalayan Marg in Sector 22, which had a reserve of ₹4.61 crore.
A third prominent bid came in at ₹9.55 crore for a vend near Centra Mall in Industrial Area, Phase 1, against a reserve price of ₹8.07 crore.
In March, the department had successfully auctioned 96 of the 97 total liquor vends for the 2025–26 fiscal year, raising ₹606 crore—36% above the base price of ₹439 crore.
However, the cancellation of 48 licences in April forced the department to relist those vends.
Of the 48, twenty were auctioned in the first round on April 21, while the remaining 28 were included in the second round. Despite the competitive bids for a few premium locations, the auction failed to attract buyers for most of the listings.
Officials said the department is planning a third auction attempt soon to dispose of the remaining 21 vends, which represent a significant portion of the city’s liquor trade allotment.
Read more: UT to Re-Auction 48 Liquor Vends at Previous Winning Bids
