Indian cigarette factories halted over health warning rules

The production halt will cause the industry a loss of Rs 350 crores

Indian cigarette makers have shut their factories from Friday due to ambiguity over new warning rules on packs, a leading industry lobby group said on Friday.

The Tobacco Institute of India, which says its members account for 98% of local sales of duty-paid cigarettes, said in a statement it estimated the production halt would cause the industry a loss of 3.5 billion rupees ($53 million) a day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that India must implement rules on printing larger health warnings on cigarette and other tobacco packs, days after a parliamentary panel called for a reduction in the size of the proposed warnings to protect the industry.

($1 = 66.3987 rupees)