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First round of cashew zone auction fetches

<p>The&nbsp; first&nbsp; round&nbsp; of&nbsp; auction&nbsp; of&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; zones&nbsp; for&nbsp; 2017&nbsp; season&nbsp; received&nbsp; modest response&nbsp; from&nbsp; Feni&nbsp; distillers&nbsp; with&nbsp; few&nbsp; buyers&nbsp; coming forward&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; first&nbsp; round.&nbsp; Of the&nbsp; 1,662&nbsp; zones,&nbsp; the distillers&nbsp; bid&nbsp; for&nbsp; 138&nbsp; zones,&nbsp; fetching&nbsp; the&nbsp; excise department&nbsp; Rs. 8.26&nbsp; lakh&nbsp; in&nbsp; revenue. &nbsp;The&nbsp; second&nbsp; round&nbsp; of&nbsp; auction&nbsp; is&nbsp; scheduled&nbsp; for&nbsp; February&nbsp; 15-16&nbsp; in&nbsp; North&nbsp; Goa&nbsp; and February&nbsp; 22-23&nbsp; in&nbsp; South&nbsp; Goa&nbsp; in&nbsp; which&nbsp; the&nbsp; department&nbsp; expects&nbsp; a&nbsp; better&nbsp; response,&nbsp; said a&nbsp; senior&nbsp; official.</p> <p>The&nbsp; official&nbsp; said&nbsp; that&nbsp; few&nbsp; buyers&nbsp; came&nbsp; forward&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; first&nbsp; round&nbsp; due&nbsp; to&nbsp; lack&nbsp; of &nbsp;estimate&nbsp; of&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; crop.&nbsp; &quot;Distillers&nbsp; are&nbsp; uncertain&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; crop&nbsp; prospects&nbsp; and&nbsp; have&nbsp; not come&nbsp; forward&nbsp; to&nbsp; hid,&#39;&nbsp; he&nbsp; said.&nbsp; The&nbsp; second&nbsp; round&nbsp; of&nbsp; auction&nbsp; could&nbsp; see&nbsp; a&nbsp; better &nbsp;response&nbsp; due&nbsp; to&nbsp; improved&nbsp; market&nbsp; prospects&nbsp; of&nbsp; Feni,&nbsp; he&nbsp; added.&nbsp; Local&nbsp; market&nbsp; for&nbsp; Feni is&nbsp; low&nbsp; and&nbsp; distillers&nbsp; are&nbsp; holding&nbsp; back&nbsp; from&nbsp; increasing&nbsp; production. &nbsp;However,&nbsp; the&nbsp; government&nbsp; is&nbsp; trying&nbsp; to&nbsp; boost&nbsp; the&nbsp; market&nbsp; for&nbsp; Feni&nbsp; within&nbsp; the&nbsp; state&nbsp; and outside&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; back&nbsp; of&nbsp; GI&nbsp; registration&nbsp; received&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; drink.&nbsp; The&nbsp; effort&nbsp; is&nbsp; on&nbsp; to &nbsp;promote&nbsp; Feni&nbsp; as&nbsp; a&nbsp; heritage&nbsp; drink&nbsp; of&nbsp; Goa. &nbsp;Revenues&nbsp; from&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; znne&nbsp; auuntinns&nbsp; have&nbsp; been&nbsp; stannant&nbsp; over&nbsp; the&nbsp; veers&nbsp; with&nbsp; Re Revenues&nbsp; from&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; zone&nbsp; auctions&nbsp; have&nbsp; been&nbsp; stagnant&nbsp; over&nbsp; the&nbsp; years&nbsp; with&nbsp; Rs 34.58&nbsp; lakh&nbsp; collected&nbsp; in&nbsp; 2014,&nbsp; Rs&nbsp; 31.94&nbsp; lakh&nbsp; in&nbsp; 2015&nbsp; and&nbsp; Rs&nbsp; 32.23&nbsp; lakh&nbsp; in&nbsp; 2016.</p> <p>The&nbsp; excise&nbsp; department&nbsp; auctions&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; zones&nbsp; every&nbsp; season.&nbsp; Traders&nbsp; who&nbsp; are&nbsp; into brewing&nbsp; Feni&nbsp; from&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; apples&nbsp; take&nbsp; the&nbsp; zones&nbsp; on&nbsp; auction.&nbsp; There&nbsp; are&nbsp; 1662&nbsp; zones in&nbsp; 11&nbsp; talukas&nbsp; of&nbsp; Bardez&nbsp; (95),&nbsp; flicholim&nbsp; (171),&nbsp; Pernem&nbsp; (131),&nbsp; Sattari&nbsp; (671),&nbsp; Tiswadi &nbsp;(63),&nbsp; Canacona&nbsp; (105),&nbsp; Quepem&nbsp; (98),&nbsp; Mormugao&nbsp; (32),&nbsp; Ponda&nbsp; (131),&nbsp; Sanguem&nbsp; (150) and&nbsp; Salcete&nbsp; (15).The&nbsp; response&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; auctions&nbsp; is&nbsp; always&nbsp; mild&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; first&nbsp; and&nbsp; second&nbsp; rounds&nbsp; after which&nbsp; the&nbsp; excise&nbsp; department&nbsp; is&nbsp; forced&nbsp; to&nbsp; put&nbsp; up&nbsp; the&nbsp; unsold&nbsp; zones&nbsp; on&nbsp; tender.&nbsp; More than&nbsp; half&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; remaining&nbsp; zones&nbsp; are&nbsp; disposed&nbsp; of&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; third&nbsp; phase&nbsp; when&nbsp; the&nbsp; price quoted&nbsp; by&nbsp; buyers&nbsp; is&nbsp; law.&nbsp; Unauctioned&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; zones&nbsp; are&nbsp; expected&nbsp; to&nbsp; be&nbsp; disposed&nbsp; of in&nbsp; the&nbsp; third&nbsp; round&nbsp; when&nbsp; the&nbsp; excise&nbsp; department&nbsp; calls&nbsp; for&nbsp; tenders.</p> <p>Cashew&nbsp; zone&nbsp; auctions&nbsp; are&nbsp; delayed&nbsp; this&nbsp; year&nbsp; because&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; elections.&nbsp; They&nbsp; are &nbsp;usually&nbsp; completed&nbsp; by&nbsp; February.&nbsp; Response&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; auctions&nbsp; also&nbsp; depends&nbsp; an&nbsp; the quality&nbsp; of&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; crop&nbsp; and&nbsp; in&nbsp; 2016&nbsp; the&nbsp; cashew&nbsp; crop&nbsp; was&nbsp; poor.</p>