Tweet Union Budget 2010-11 may have come as a positive surprise for tobacco companies, which were bracing themselves for an excise duty hike. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee kept excise rates unchanged for cigars and cigarettes. Structural changes in the excise duty on cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos coupled with an increase in rates, which had been proposed in the last budget to the tune of 10-18% have been kept unchanged. These items would ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet ITC and Godfrey Phillips India (GPI) have stopped production of cigarettes in view of uncertainty over the sort of pictorial warnings needed to be carried on tobacco products from this month. The companies said there was no clarity on types of warnings to be carried on the packages. ITC, the maker of India Kings, Gold Flake and Navy Cut, stopped production at all the five units located across India from yesterday. It has manufacturing facil ... Jump to full article >>