Excise Auctions Generate ₹1,874.97 Crore; HRTC to Add 677 New Buses

The Himachal Pradesh government has earned ₹1,874.97 crore in revenue from liquor shop auctions up to July 31, 2025.

Replying in writing to a joint question raised during Question Hour in the Assembly by MLAs I.D. Lakhanpal, Sudhir Sharma, Trilok Jamwal, and Randhir Sharma, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed that of the 2,332 liquor shops in the state, 2,244 have been auctioned this year. The remaining 88 shops in Shimla, Kullu, and Mandi districts could not be auctioned due to low bids and are now being run by various boards and corporations.

The Chief Minister said liquor revenue stood at ₹1,722.80 crore in 2023–24, and is projected at ₹1,769.68 crore for 2024–25. He added that payments of ₹92.55 lakh and ₹25.38 lakh from the past two years remain pending. This year, 266 cases of illegal liquor smuggling and 4,972 cases under the NDPS Act have been registered.

HRTC Fleet Expansion
Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri announced that Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC), which currently operates 3,087 buses, will add 677 new vehicles to improve passenger connectivity.

In his written reply, Agnihotri—who also holds the Transport portfolio—said the new fleet will include 327 electric buses, 250 diesel buses, and 100 mini diesel buses. At present, HRTC operates 110 electric buses.

Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools
Responding to a question from Chamba MLA Neeraj Nayar, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said administrative and financial approval has been granted in the past three years for setting up 21 Rajiv Gandhi Day Boarding Schools across 21 Assembly constituencies in eight districts.

These districts include Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kinnaur, Kangra, Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, and Una. For Chamba constituency, 50 bighas of forest land in Udaipur have been identified for the project, and approval has been sought from the Ministry of Forest and Environment.

Over 1.15 Lakh Applications to SSSSB
In reply to a question by Hamirpur MLA Ashish Sharma, the Chief Minister said that 1,15,503 youths had applied for various posts advertised by the State Subordinate Services Selection Board (SSSSB). The posts are being re-advertised, and the application fees paid earlier will be refunded to all candidates.

Rise in Chitta-Related Cases
The Assembly was also informed of a steady increase in cases related to chitta (heroin) under the NDPS Act over the past three years. Of the total NDPS cases registered, 1,133 out of 2,147 in 2023, 834 out of 1,714 in 2024, and 625 out of 1,279 in 2025 were linked to chitta.