Retail licence bidding to supply liquor in Delhi to open on Friday

Bidding for retail licences to supply liquor in 12 zones of the national capital will open on Friday with the Excise Department of the Delhi government hoping to earn Rs 3,000 crore from the auction, official sources said.

The Excise Department has formed a seven-member tender evaluation committee headed by a deputy excise commissioner to assess financial and technical aspects of the bids.

Fresh bid for grant of 12 zonal retail licences for supply of Indian and Foreign Liquor, except country liquor, in Delhi during the financial year 2021-22, were issued by Delhi government on August 13.

"The bids will open on Friday for 12 zones that could not be auctioned earlier due to technical reasons. A revenue of around Rs 3,000 is expected as per the estimates," a senior government officer said.

The initial bidding of retail liquor vends in 20 zones last month had raked in Rs 5,300 crore. The city has been divided into 32 zones under the new excise policy of the Delhi government.

"The 12 zones could not be auction last time because some bidders had applied for all 32 zones and some of them were L1 bidder in more than two zones. Under the new excise policy, a bidder can be awarded licence for a maximum of two zones," the officer said.

The tenders for 32 zones were floated by the Excise department in June. The successful bidders will be have L-7Z or L-7V licences for retail sale of Indian and foreign liquor.

Under the new policy, the Excise department expects a revenue of around Rs 8,800 crores from auctioning the retail vends in 32 zones. Each zone has roughly 27 liquor vends of Indian and Foreign liquor.

The new policy aims, among other things, having liquor stores of international quality in the city providing a walk-in experience to the consumers and offering them a variety of brands.

With new policy in place, a revenue growth of around 35 per cent is expected by Excise Department. In the previous excise regime, a total of Rs 6,358 crore was earned in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, officials said.