Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra today asked state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu to increase tax on tobacco products to secure a significant decrease in the consumption of such products in the state.
The Governor, in a letter to the Finance Minister, asked him to increase tax on tobacco products from the present 40 per cent to at least 65 per cent, an official spokesman said.
The Governor said that Rajasthan and Punjab have increased taxes on tobacco products to 65 per cent and 55 per cent respectively and, in J-K, consequent to the increase in the tax from 13.5 per cent to 40 per cent on tobacco products, the level of tobacco consumption is reported to have significantly gone down, especially among the youth.
The increase in the tax has also generated a three-fold increase in the revenue earned, the spokesman said.
