New Delhi: Tobacco farmers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh today demanded roll-back of the government's decision to increase the excise duty on non-filter cigarettes, saying the proposed move would affect 35 lakh people involved in cultivation of the crop.

To put forth their demand, members of Tobacco Growers Welfare Association of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka Tobacco Growers Forum are likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in a couple of days.

"The hike in the excise duty would result in an increase in the price by up to 400 per cent and would completely wipe out the non-filter cigarette segment," said L Ananda, president, Karanataka Toabacco Growers Forum.

Farmers fear that demand of non-filter cigarettes such as Charminar, Four Square and Cavenders, could fall by 30 per cent and expect similar slowdown in sale of low-grade tobacco.

"Such a significant reduction in the demand for cigarette tobacoo will destroy tobacco farmers. The direct fallout will be a 30 per cent drop in tobacco crop production, impacting 35 lakh people involved in tobacco farming," Ananda said.

Tobacco manufacturers urged the government to either rollback the budget proposal of enhancing excise duty on non-filter cigarettes or limit the hike to 10 per cent.

Ananda said companies like ITC that manufacture non-filter cigarettes have informally conveyed tobacco growers that they may not go on manufacturing the non-filter variants for long, as there would not be a market for them due to the exorbitant excise duty hike.

Tobacco Growers Welfare Association of Andhra Pradesh General Secretary Siva Rama Prasad said smokers could switch to Bidi, which has more tar and nicotine, due to this decision.
Source : PTI