Misbranded cigarette smuggling into India causes annual revenue loss of ₹21k cr

SMUGGLING of misbranded cigarettes from south-east Asian countries into India causes an annual tax revenue loss of ₹21,000 crore, apart from helping finance terrorism, India's biggest cigarette manufacturer has cautioned in a letter to the Union finance ministry, sources said.

- SIDDHARTH PRABHAKAR @ Chennai

The letter written by ITC Ltd, forwarded to all Customs and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) formations last month, flags widespread smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes via air, sea and land routes, as well as speed post from foreign countries, mainly south-east Asia and Middle East, to India.

Apart from tax losses and funding organised crime rackets, this affects tobacco farmers as cigarettes are manufactured abroad, the letter stated.