Why high cigarette taxes hurt the economy

 
The government’s recent announcement increasing levies on cigarettes in the form of the National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) has created uncertainty for the legal cigarette industry. The legal domestic cigarette industry already faces a huge challenge from illicit and smuggled cigarettes. This action will also put additional pressure on the already serious job scenario in India. The tobacco industry, which is highly labour-intensive (especially the farming end of it), is bound to be adversely impacted.
 
Loss of jobs due to increase in smuggling and counterfeiting is not on the radar of policy makers. Ficci Cascade (Committee Against Smuggling