CHANDIGARH: A liquor vend at Dhanas village went for whopping Rs 10.78 crore against the reserve price of Rs 6.50 crore in an auction conducted by the UT Excise and Taxation Department on Wednesday.It was the highest ever bid for a liquor vend in Chandigarh. Earlier in 2017, a liquor vend in Sector 42 had fetched the highest bid amount of Rs 9.51 crore, against the reserve price of Rs 4.46 crore. Last year, the highest bid was made for a liquor vend at Raipur Khurd for Rs 6.60 crore against the reserve price of Rs 2.5 crore.The UT Excise and Taxation department earned a revenue of Rs 343.63 crore from the auction of 81 liquor vends out of the total 98 vends. The department had received 164 bids for 81 vends. There were no takers for 17 vends. Last year UT had earned Rs 266 crore. The auction was held at the Hotel Park view, Sector 24, on Wednesday.The highest bid of Rs 10.78 crore for liquor vend at Dhanas village was made by Kamlesh Jha and company.For the first time, there was e-auctioning of liquor vends in Chandigarh. The new excise policy will come into effect from April 1.The opening of e-tenders/ financial bids took place in the presence of Mandip Singh Brar, Excise and Taxation commissioner-cum-deputy commissioner.According to the excise policy for 2019-20, released on March 8, prices of premium brands of whisky are set to increase by 20 to 25% in Chandigarh. While the rates of beer and wine will remain unchanged and the prices of beer at microbreweries will go down.According to the UT administration, the new excise policy will help the administration earn approximately Rs 600 crore in the form of revenue in comparison to Rs 510 crore earned last year.Under the new policy, the excise levy on country-made liquor has been increased by approximately 17% and the same on the Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) has been increased by approximately 20%. To promote low alcoholic content in beverages like beer, wine and particularly to boost Indian wine industry, the license fee has not been increased and has been kept at Rs 12,000 for the entire year. Further, the label registration fee of wine has been reduced from Rs 15,000 per brand to Rs 10,000 per brand.The policy further states that the excise duty on microbrewery has also been reduced from Rs 50 per bulk litre to Rs 30 per bulk litre to shift consumers from hard liquor to soft liquor.

Stay updated with all the Chandigarh Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.