gfiles magazine

February 9, 2015

Tobacco: A Catch-22 situation

GOVERNANCE
health tobacco ban

It’s easy to say that there should be a ban on tobacco. But, till the farmers get an equally profitable option, it is a difficult step to take
  • Annual loss of over Rs. 25,000 crore (over Rs. 19,000-crore excise duty and around Rs. 6,000-crore worth of foreign exchange) which accrue to the national exchequer on account of excise duty and export of raw tobacco and tobacco products. 
  • Loss of gainful employment to over 30 million farmers growing flue-cured Virginia (FCV) tobacco in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and farmers growing beedi tobacco in Gujarat.
  • Closure of around three dozen government offices belonging to the Indian Tobacco Board and Central Tobacco Research Institute (CTRI), employing around a thousand employees.

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