India prescribed steep tax increases

The Indian Ministry of Health has recommended that the government announce steep increases in tobacco-product taxes as part of its 2013 budget, according to an Indian Express story relayed by the TMA.

If the ministry gets its way, tax would be increased so as to account for 70 per cent of the retail price of tobacco products.

A report compiled as part of the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use estimates that a 10 per cent increase in the price of cigarettes and bidis could reduce consumption by 9.1 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.

The report claimed that 18.9 million lives could be saved in India if the government raised bidi taxes from Rs14 to Rs98 per 1,000, and cigarette taxes from Rs659 to Rs3,691 per 1,000.