Organised cigarette players cheer low duty hike

In the Budget FY18, the govt hiked the duty on cigarettes by 6%

The government is gradually tightening its noose around non-cigarette tobacco products like bidi, chewing tobacco and other products and planning to create a level playing field in the segment by ushering in a new regulatory regime for the entire sector.

Interestingly, while non-cigarette and illicit tobacco products account for 89 per cent of the entire market, they pay only 13 per cent of the total tobacco share in taxation, while legal cigarettes, which account for 11 per cent of the market, pay 87 per cent of the tax.

In the Budget FY18, against expectations of a 10 per cent duty