This area in Gurugram becomes most expensive liquor zone in Haryana, generates revenue of Rs...

Gurugram is the liquor hub of Haryana with shops located every few metres and prices so low that consumers from far off also prefer to buy alcohol from here. Now, Gurugram's Bristol Chowk, which is located on Golf Course Road, which is one of the poshest areas, has become the city’s most expensive liquor zone. It was sold at Rs 100 crore in the liquor licensing auction which was held last week on Saturday. This year it has gone at Rs 98.6 crores which is more or less double than last year's Rs 49.3 crores, which is a 4.2% jump from its reserve price of Rs 94.6 crores. With this, it has become Haryana's most expensive auction till now. 

In this context, reserve prices signify the minimum bid required to secure a liquor vend licence. This means that this amount is the lowest that a bidder can bid for obtaining the liquor license.

The auction's singer bidder, G-Town Wines, won the rights for a whopping Rs 98.6 crore. The bid comes as the latest excise policy of the state government and Bristol Chowk is located in its West's excise zone. Officials told Times of India, “This year's license auction under the new excise policy was for 22 months(June 2025- March 2027) compared to 12 months in the last 2024-25 auction.” According to the terms of the license, the bidder can open only two vends in this zone.  

The second bid of the zone in the category of the ‘highest bids table’ went to DLF-3 at Rs 63 crores and its reserve price was Rs 60 crores. The third highest bid took place for Shankar Chowk where the price of the winning bid and the reserve was the same, at Rs 62 crores. According to the officials, the massive jump in the amount is the result of an extended licence period of 22-month, that is, from June 2025–March 2027 as against the earlier term of 12 months. “With the new policy, the duration for the licence fee has also increased,” said a senior official. 

Amit Bhatia, deputy excise and taxation commissioner to TOI, said, "50 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." Another zone, Horizon Plaza, was auctioned at a bid of Rs 46.2 crore, which was a little more than its reserve price, which was the second-highest bid in Gurgaon East. Similarly, places like Signature Tower, World Mark, and Jalsa were auctioned closely at their base prices. 

Zones with the highest gains over reserve prices included Nawada (+30%), South City (+25%), American Express on SPR (+24.3%), Badshapur (+20.9%), Sikohpur and Kankrola (both +20.5%), Sohna Road (+16.9%), and Banni Square (+12%).