Tobacco: Tax rebates should continue

Chewing tobacco has been a tradition in India for centuries. Of the total amount of tobacco produced in the country, around 48 per cent is in the form of chewing tobacco, 38 per cent as bidis, and only 14 per cent as cigarettes.

Thus, bidis, snuff and chewing tobacco (such as gutka, khaini and zarda) form the bulk (86 per cent) of India's total tobacco production. In the rest of the world, production of cigarettes is 90 per cent of total production of tobacco related products.

The per capita consumption of cigarettes in India is merely a tenth of the world average. This unique tobacco consumption pattern is a combination of tradition and more importantly the tax imposed on cigarettes over the last 2 decades. Cigarette smokers pay almost 85% of the total tax revenues generated from tobacco.