The Indian government has said that global companies will no longer have to depend on a local partner or agent to buy leaf tobacco from the country’s farmers, according to a story in the Business Standard relayed by the TMA.
The story suggested that allowing global players to participate directly in flue-cured tobacco auctions would increase competition and help improve farmer prices.
Global buyers were said to buy 70 percent of the country’s flue-cured tobacco, while the remainder was bought by local cigarette manufactures.
In 2016, the country’s exports of flue-cured tobacco amounted to 230 million kg and were worth Rs59.5 billion (US$921.1 million).
But exports declined by four percent this year, primarily due a decline in production, according to R Subba Rao Chowdary, a Tobacco Board official responsible for marketing and exports.