Summary:
Panaji: The third round of auctioning of cashew orchard zones that weren’t sold will begin this month, the state excise department said. The excise department has over 1,675 cashew orchard zones across talukas in Goa., of which 788 have been auctioned in the first two rounds.Over half the cashew zones in each of the state’s 12 talukas are usually never taken up during auction. The government plans to put an end to this practice, but it will probably need another cashew crop season for it to be implemented. It was also observed that some traders deliberately avoid participating in the first three rounds of auctions, so that they can quote a lesser price for the zones with no takers. As many as 887 zones are yet to be sold after first two rounds of auction were conducted in the first two months of the year.The unclaimed zones can be bought through open tendering at a later date according to the excise department which is responsible for the auctioning..