The excise department in Noida has restructured four unsold liquor vends—three model shops and one country liquor shop—into 11 outlets after failing to attract bidders since the fourth phase of the excise e-lottery on April 9. The move includes adding seven new vends to reduce the licence fee burden on the existing four, according to officials.
Background of Unsold Vends
Officials stated that the district had struggled to find takers for the model shops, which carried annual licence fee liabilities of Rs 2.2 crore each. The restructured and newly created shops will be up for auction in the fifth e-lottery round scheduled for May 29. This reorganisation follows an expansion of the district’s liquor network at the start of the financial year, when 25 new shops were introduced along with five that remained unallocated from the previous year. Of these, 25 were allotted and are currently operational, while the remaining five were offered across lottery rounds but found no takers.
Challenges in Previous Lottery Phases
Officials noted that although some applicants applied during each phase, they consistently failed to deposit the licence fee within the stipulated timeline, causing allotments to lapse. In the fourth phase, one model shop was finally allotted, leaving three model shops and one country liquor shop unsettled. District excise officer Subodh Kumar explained, “These model shops were carrying licence fees of nearly Rs 2.2 crore each, which was proving too expensive for bidders. The country liquor shop, located in the Chalera area on Dadri main road, is one of the biggest in the district with the highest minimum guarantee quantity of Rs 1.3 lakh, making it unviable.” The three model shops are situated in Surajpur, Chapraula, and Alpha-1, Greater Noida.
Restructuring and Rationalisation
Invoking provisions under the UP Excise Policy 2026-27, which allow authorities to reorganise unsold shops after the fourth allotment phase, the department redistributed the pending revenue targets across a larger number of outlets with lower licence costs. “After rationalisation, the licence fee for model shops has been reduced from around Rs 2.2 crore to nearly Rs 1.5 crore, while the minimum guaranteed quantity (MGQ) for the country liquor shop has been brought down from Rs 1.3 lakh to around Rs 80,000,” Kumar said.
Creation of Additional Shops
To recover the nearly Rs 40 crore linked to pending licence fees and revenue targets, the department created seven additional shops—five country liquor vends and two model shops—alongside the four unallocated outlets. “If all 11 shops are settled in the next e-lottery, the department will generate nearly Rs 50 crore through licence fee, MGQ and minimum guaranteed revenue (MGR) alone, apart from annual consumption revenue,” Kumar added.
Impact on Total Liquor Vends
The reorganisation will raise the total number of liquor vends in the district from 501 last financial year to 533. In the previous fiscal, the department generated Rs 2,418 crore in consumption-based revenue against a target of Rs 2,506 crore.
