Hope on GST to curb cigarette smuggling: Tobacco Institute of India

TII says India has become fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world.

The coming national goods and services tax (GST) will, says the cigarette industry, help curb smuggling of items in the segment.

Cigarettes, both duty paid and tax paid, comprise 15 per cent of the entire tobacco market in India, which was estimated at Rs 144,000 crore in 2015.

The Tobacco Institute of India (TII), representing 98 per cent of duty-paying cigarette makers, says the country has become the fastest growing and fourth largest illegal cigarette market in the world, on account of excessive taxation.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/hope-on-gst-to-curb-cigarette-smuggling-tobacco-institute-of-india-117051101008_1.html