Haryana flush with liquor funds

GURGAON, March 29: The Haryana government has netted around Rs 150 crore by auctioning 280 liquor vends spread across the four districts of ...

GURGAON, March 29: The Haryana government has netted around Rs 150 crore by auctioning 280 liquor vends spread across the four districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and Mahendargarh. During the first phase of the auction held here on Saturday, 72 liquor vends in Gurgaon district were auctioned for Rs 43 crore. In 1995-96, these vends had fetched Rs 31.72 crore.

In Faridabad, 118 vends (divided into two zones) fetched licence fees (bidding amounts) of up to Rs 84.48 crore as compared to Rs 46 crore amassed in 1995-96.

An overall increase of around Rs 52 crore was recorded in the Gurgaon division which comprises Faridabad, Gurgaon, Rewari and Mahendargarh districts.

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Bidding for liquor vends in Faridabad and Gurgaon received a stupendous response. The auction started on a high note but wound up quickly once the vends of high-potential areas (Gurgaon and Faridabad) were auctioned. Rewari received a lukewarm response, where 46 vends came under the hammer for a bidding amount of Rs 12.94 crore as comparedto Rs 11.60 crore earned by the Government in the 1995-96 auction.

Similarly, 44 vends in the Mahendargarh district were auctioned for a sum of Rs 10.98 crore.

During the first call for vends in Rewari and Mahendargarh, there were no takers. Officials later disclosed that bidders were reluctant to participate on the pretext of the steep reserved price for these vends in a relatively “poor” district.

The Gurgaon district was divided into three groups, consisting of 18 vends (nine Indian Made Foreign Liquor and nine country liquor vends) in the segment of Bandwari to Bajghera, 23 vends in the Gurgaon city area and 31 vends in the Badshahpur, Manesar, Pataudi, Taouru and Ferozepur Zhirka areas.In all, there were 37 vends of country liquor and 35 vends of IMFL.

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Officials said that all the 72 vends were grabbed by a single group, Uma Liquors. They added that a 36.5 per cent revenue increase was achieved as compared to the 1995-96 auction conducted in Gurgaon. Faridabad recorded an increase of 88.76 percent for the East Zone and 79.63 per cent for the West Zone. For Rewari, it was an increase in revenue by 11.55 per cent while there was an increase of 10.90 per cent in Mahendargarh.

Bidding was conducted for the country liquor vends and the highest bidders were simultaneously allotted the IMFL vends on payment of 25 per cent more money than the bidding amount in the 1995-96 auction.

Meanwhile, pro-prohibition activists led by Swami Agnivesh staged a demonstration outside the auction venue. The demonstrators raised anti-Bansi Lal slogans and demanded the dismissal of the HVP-BJP government.

The auction started around 10 am and officials of the four districts, along with deputy commissioner (Panchkula) Saroj Siwatch and deputy commissioner (Ambala) Dheera Khandelwal attended the proceedings.