Budget 2016: Cigarette stocks crash by 8% as excise duty raised

ITC was the top loser among the 30-Sensex stocks

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Led by ITC, cigarette stocks came under selling pressure, falling by up to 8%, as excise duty on various tobacco products other than beedi was raised by about 10-15% in Budget 2016-2017.

Shares of ITC tumbled 7.9%, Godfrey Phillips went down by 5.88%, Golden Tobacco dropped 5.31% and VST Industries shed 2.14% on BSE.


Weakness was also seen in the broader market as in a knee-jerk reaction to various tax proposals made by Jaitley in his Budget 2016-17, the stock market benchmark Sensex crashed by 660 points but recovered back to the positive territory later on heavy buying by domestic institutions.

"Excise duties on various tobacco products other than beedi have been raised by about 10-15%," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the Budget speech.