Excise dept exploring ways to dispose 70L unsold liquor bottles: Officials

New Delhi: Delhi government's excise department is devising ways to dispose 70 lakh bottles of leftover liquor and to roll them over for sale under the current excise regime, officials said on Wednesday. The stock, also comprising wine and beer, is stored at warehouses as it could not be sold under Excise Policy 2021-22 that finally ended on August 31, they said.

"There are over 35 lakh bottles of various spirit brands are registered under the current excise policy. Such brands can be sold through corporation vends," a senior government officer said. The remaining stock belongs to brands that are yet to be registered under the prevailing excise policy. "It is being explored how to dispose this stock of unregistered brands. One option is to register the brands concerned and sell them through the liquor vends. Another option is to destroy them," the officer said. Officials, however, said the government may allow sale of the unregistered brand bottles instead of destroying them.