Cigarette companies are rushing in to set up manufacturing facilities in the Northeast to take advantage of the government notification granting excise duty exemption to companies located in these states.
The Secretariat of Industrial Approvals have received 4 applications two from Godfrey Phillips and two from International Tobacco Corporation for issue of fresh licences to invest over Rs 400 crore in Tripura and Assam to set up manufacturing facilities.
The move, however, has already come under attack from the Tobacco Institute of India the apex association of tobacco manufacturers which is preparing a representation against the new notification on the basis that it would lead to loss of revenue for the government.
Godfrey Phillips India Ltd of the K K Modi group has put in two applications before the secretariat envisaging a total investment of Rs 214.15 crore.
The first application proposes an investment of Rs 114.45 crore in setting up a manufacturing facility for 10,000 million cigarettes a year in Assam while the second application envisages an investment of Rs 99.7 crore in Tripura to manufacture 7,500 cigarettes a year.
Another tobacco company, International Tobacco Corporation, has submitted two applications proposing a total investment of Rs 198.2 crore.
The first application proposes an investment of Rs 99.1 crore in Assam
