At Rs 98 crore revenue, Bristol Chowk is Haryana's costliest liquor zone
GURGAON: Haryana's revenue from liquor licence in one zone of the city - Bristol Chowk on the upscale Golf Course Road - has touched nearly Rs 100 crore, making it the costliest-ever excise auction in the state.
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On Saturday, the licence went for Rs 98.6 crore, a 4.2% increase from its reserve price of Rs 94.6 crore. The bid was won by the sole applicant - a firm called G-Town Wines, which is permitted to open a maximum of two vends in the zone.
In the last excise policy for financial year 2024-25, Bristol Chowk was auctioned for almost half the amount of the latest bid, at Rs 49.3 crore.
Officials told TOI Sunday the reserve price for this coveted zone was nearly doubled for the latest excise policy as it will be applicable for 22 months - from June 2025 to March 2027 - up from 12 months earlier.
Until now, the excise policy was applicable for 12 months and the licence fee was charged for a year. With the new policy, the duration for the licence fee has also increased," the official said.
Reserve price is the minimum amount that an entity can bid for while trying to get a liquor licence.
DLF-3, auctioned for Rs 63 crore (against reserve price of Rs 60 crore), clinched the second spot in highest bids after Bristol Chowk, followed by Shankar Chowk, which went for Rs 62 crore (same as its reserve price).
While Bristol Chowk is part of Gurgaon's West excise zone, auctioned over the last weekend, the other two were included in the city's East zone, the bidding process for which was held earlier last week. "Fifty out of 79 zones in Gurgaon East were auctioned over the weekend. Govt made revenue of Rs 1,270 crore, almost 6% higher than the combined reserve price of Rs 1,198 crore set for these zones," said Amit Bhatia, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (DETC).
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Horizon Plaza went for Rs 46.2 crore in the latest auction, just marginally higher than its reserve price, but the second highest amount to be bid for in the Gurgaon East zone. There weren't any major deviations from reserve prices in bids for Signature Tower, World Mark and Jalsa.
The zones that added to govt's estimated earnings from liquor licences were Nawada, auctioned for a bid that was 30% higher than the reserve price, South City (+25%), American Express on Southern Peripheral Road (+24.3%), Badshapur (+20.9%), Sikohpur (+20.5%), Kankrola (+20.5%), Sohna Road (+16.9%), and Banni Square (+12%).
Bhatia said the 21 remaining zones out of 83 in Gurgaon West will be auctioned on June 3, and the same will be carried out for the remaining 29 zones in Gurgaon East on June 5.
"The department received a better response in the third round of the excise auction compared to the previous round, indicating widespread participation in the zone auction process and a positive response to the state's excise policy," he added.
Gurgaon makes up for around 35-40% of Haryana's excise revenue.
The state cabinet on May 5 approved the new liquor policy for 2025-2027, which introduced earlier closing hours for urban vendors, bans on live performances in ahatas and halting the sale of alcohol in villages with a population under 500.
The govt also set an ambitious financial goal, targeting revenue of Rs 14,064 crore this time. Collections reached Rs 11,491 crore, about 90% of the targeted Rs 12,650 crore in FY 2024-25.
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