BENGALURU: For the first time since the inception of the State Excise Department in 1965, the Congress government has initiated the process of auctioning unused retail licences. The government expects to earn around Rs 1,000 crore through the e-auction.
“This is the first time unused and unallotted Excise licences are being auctioned to generate revenue. The government is expecting to earn around Rs 1000 crore through the e-auctioning process. Some licences that the department had issued to government-owned MSIL (CL-11C) and were not opened have been taken back and are being auctioned under the CL-2A (CL2 retail liquor shops) category only. The CL-9A licences (CL9 bars & restaurants) that are being auctioned were discontinued and hence brought under the auction pool,” Joint Commissioner, Excise, Indian Made Liquor (IML), T Nagarajappa told the TNIE.
“Maximum number of licences – 182 out of 569 - will be auctioned for the eight (Excise) districts in Bengaluru Urban District (BUD),” added Ngarajappa.
The TNIE had reported earlier on the auction notification and details on December 7.
Registration for bidders will begin on December 22, while live e-bidding will take place between January 13 and January 20, 2026, according to the gazette notification. Bidders can participate only after completing registration and confirming online payment in their wallet. They have been advised to complete the registration process at least 48 hours before the start of the auction slot they wish to participate in.
Interested bidders must register on the MSTC Limited e-auction platform. A one-time registration fee of Rs 1,000 plus applicable GST must be paid online. The application fee for each licence is a non-refundable Rs 50,000.
The government has provided reservations in the auction process: six per cent each for Scheduled Caste-A and Scheduled Caste-B categories, five per cent for Scheduled Caste-C, and seven per cent for Scheduled Tribes for CL-2A and CL-9A licences.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in the 2025–26 Budget presented on March 7, had proposed allotting unused liquor licences through a transparent electronic auction to aid additional resource mobilisation for the State.
Following amendments to the Excise Rules, the government has notified the allotment of 569 licences through e-auction. Discontinued or unallotted CL-2 and CL-11C licences have been reclassified as CL-2A, while discontinued CL-9 licences have been reclassified as CL-9A. Accordingly, 477 CL-2A and 92 CL-9A licences are available for e-auction.
Details of the e-auction schedule will be available on the Karnataka State Excise Department portal and the MSTC e-auction platform.
(Details of the e-auction schedule will be available on the Karnataka State Excise Department portal https://stateexcise.karnataka.gov.in and the e-auction platform of MSTC portal https://www.mstcecommerce.com)
