Parliament nod for bill to levy excise duty on tobacco
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New Delhi: Parliament on Thursday approved a bill to levy a higher excise duty on tobacco and related products once the GST compensation cess ends, with the Rajya Sabha returning the legislation to Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha had passed the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, on Wednesday. Replying to a discussion on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke on the various aspects of the legislation, and responded to questions from various members.
Sitharaman also told the House that farmers are being encouraged to give up tobacco and grow other cash crops. “This is being done in Andhra, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, UP, and West Bengal. In these states, more than 1 lakh acres of land are shifting from tobacco cultivation to other crops,” she said.
