4 months ago
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Flue-Cured Virginia (FCV) baccy farmers from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka connected Tuesday met Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal successful New Delhi, seeking a reappraisal of the caller hike successful cigaret taxation.
They alleged that the hike successful taxation connected cigarettes would severely disrupt the regulated baccy ecosystem and livelihoods of farmers.
The members of Federation of All India Farmers’ Associations (FAIFA), accompanied by Yashwanth Kumar Chidipothu, Chairman of Tobacco Board, met the Union Minister and Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agarwal successful New Delhi. They submitted a practice connected the crisp summation successful cigaret taxes notified connected December 31, 2025, and effectual from February 1, 2026, according to a connection released successful Guntur by G. Nagaraja, Secretary, FAIFA.
The FAIFA said that the ‘sudden taxation shock’ is apt to sharply declaration ineligible cigaret demand, starring to little auction prices of tobacco, anemic purchaser participation, unsold stocks and increasing distress among farmers.
They expressed interest that the combined interaction of higher Central excise work and changes successful the GST valuation method would importantly rise user prices, pushing consumers towards illicit and smuggled cigarettes. This, they said, would not lone impact the farmers severely but besides effect successful important gross losses to the government.
With the March 2026 auction play approaching, the farmers cautioned that request disruption could instantly impact auction stability, agrarian currency flows and employment successful tobacco-growing regions. Early signs of terms unit and the hazard of carryover stocks were besides flagged.
Mr. Goyal assured the delegation that the contented would beryllium examined. The farmers urged the Centre to rationalise the taxation structure, guarantee argumentation stability, support husbandman livelihoods and fortify measures against the illicit cigaret trade.
