The fine print · a companion to the auction atlas
Four things the numbers reveal about how the Indian state sells its surplus — who the sellers really are, where the value hides, and why the price tag tells you almost nothing about whether a lot is worth a second look.
Where the good finds are
Average interest score by the type of seller. Lots from ISRO, HAL, research labs and the military score far above the vast commodity heaps sold by everyone else.
The myth of the price tag
Average interest score across price bands, ₹1 to ₹100 crore. The line barely moves — the costliest lots are no more interesting than the cheapest. Real estate is expensive and dull; the finds are mid-priced.
Who India liquidates
Top sellers by number of lots. The single largest is the Economic Offences Wing — auctioning confiscated proceeds of economic crime — ahead of a wall of Chhattisgarh timber depots and Gujarat's retired bus fleet.
The shape of the money
A Lorenz curve of reserve value. Half of all lots carry a ₹1 token reserve; value is hoarded in a sliver at the top. The dashed line is what perfect equality would look like.
The other 99% of lots — retired trucks, scrap metal, tendu leaf, condemned furniture — split the remaining quarter between them. This is why a flat price filter is useless and a learned interest model earns its keep.
Source: nightly captures from MSTC, GeM and BAANKNET, May–July 2026, ~140,000 lots. Interest scores are the auction pipeline's own 1–10 rating. Reserve values are opening/EMD figures as listed, not sale prices; the ₹1 token reserves are lots listed without a public floor.