Chandigarh, July 30 -- Earning an excise revenue of Rs.7,744.68 crore as licence fee from the allotment of 1,194 retail liquor zones for the 2025-26 financial year, the Haryana government will have to mop up additional receipts to accomplish its excise revenue target of Rs.14,063.91 crore from the sale of liquor this fiscal. The 2025-26 financial year for liquor business in Haryana will be for a period of nine months and 20 days from June 12, 2025 to March 31, 2026. All the 1,194 retail liquor zones comprising 2,388 vends of country liquor and Indian made foreign liquor (IMFL) have been allotted by way of e-tendering in 18 attempts by the excise department. Data showed that a growth of less than a percent (0.14%) - in terms of difference between the reserved price fixed for allotment of vends and the actual bids received - was registered from the allotment of 1,194 retail liquor zones for 2025-27 years spread over 21 months and 20 days starting from June 12, 2025 to March 31, 2027. The excise department earned a revenue of Rs.14,342 crore as licence fee against the reserve price of Rs.14,321.15 crore, a meagre increase of Rs.20.85 crore. Trade analysts said that once the bidding process got hampered due to the threats of criminal gangs, it became hard for the department to auction its unsold liquor vends due to decline in business sentiment. Officials said that the shifting out of collector, excise, Vijay Singh on July 21 and reshuffling of a number of deputy excise and taxation commissioners (DETCs) overseeing the bidding process were not routine transfers. Officials said that reserve price of a large number of unallotted retail liquor zones across the state had to be drastically reduced to enable their sale. An unallotted retail liquor zone in Gurugram (east), Sector 47, which had a reserve price of Rs.42.99 crore was sold after the reserve price was reduced by 39% to about Rs.26.22 crore. Similarly, an unallotted zone in Gurugram (west), Hyatt Palace, which had a reserve price of Rs.55.50 crore, was sold after it was reduced to Rs.33.85 crore. An unallotted zone in Panchkula rural (circle 1, Kalka Pinjore) with a reserve price of Rs.7.12 crore was sold after the reserve price was reduced by 34% to Rs.4.70 crore. An unallotted zone on Guhla road in Kaithal with a reserve price of Rs.12.48 crore was sold after it was reduced by 30.5% to Rs.8.67 crore. Excise officials said a large number of unsold zones were sold on single bids despite reduction in reserve price. While the excise and taxation department, in a statement on Saturday, claimed that the government has earned a record revenue of Rs.14,342 crore through the auction process this year as against Rs.7,025 crore earned last fiscal and thus "the revenue has doubled in just one year," trade analysts said the two figures cannot be compared. The revenue amount of Rs.14,342 crore will come into government kitty over a period of 21 months and 20 days in two financial years whereas Rs.7,025 crore earned as excise revenue in 2024-25 fiscal was for 12 months. "45% of Rs.14,342 crore which works out to be Rs.6,453.90 crore as licence fee will come in government kitty in monthly instalments till March 2026 in a period of nine months and 20 days. If one adds 9% security amount of Rs.1,290.78 crore, the total revenue from licence fee till March 2026 will be Rs.7,744.68 crore. So, it will be a 10.24% increase over Rs.7,025 crore earned as licence fee in 2024-25,'' said a trade analyst who did not wish to be quoted. Policy document showed that 46% of Rs.14,342 crore, which works out to Rs.6,597.32 crore, will be earned from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, in 12 months. A tax expert said that as reported by the excise department, the total excise earnings in 2024-25 fiscal was Rs.12,701 crore as against the revenue target of 12,650 crore. So, this meant that 55.31% of the excise revenue in 2024-25 (Rs.7,025 crore) came from the licence fee of retail liquor zones. "If the department is able to successfully realise Rs.7,744.68 crore licence fee of retail liquor zones for 2025-26, it should feel contented having pocketed 55.07% of excise revenue target of Rs.14,063.91 crore despite adverse law and order situation,'' he said....