By IANS,
Kolkata : Describing the hike in the excise duty on cigarettes as “steep”, tobacco major ITC limited Friday said it was evaluating the cost impact of the budget proposal.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in his budget speech said excise duty on cigarettes would go up.
“Since I quit smoking many years ago, I would urge others to also follow suit, as smoking is injurious to health. To this end, I am making some structural changes in the excise duty on cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos coupled with some increase in rates,” Mukherjee said.
“There is steep increase in duties. We are evaluating the impact on cost based on the duty,” an ITC spokesperson told IANS.
Indications are that the company would take a call on the pricing strategy within a couple of weeks.