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MISSING LINK IN INDIA'S TOBACCO REFORM IS DIGITAL TRACEABILITY AT THE FARM

The Sunday Guardian

|

June 01, 2025

India's recent move to implement a digital track-and-trace (T&T) system for cigarettes is a commendable and necessary step toward modernizing a sector long plagued by informal practices and revenue leakage.

- JAIDEEP VAIDEESWAR

MISSING LINK IN INDIA'S TOBACCO REFORM IS DIGITAL TRACEABILITY AT THE FARM

The GST Council's approval, led by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, aims to tackle illicit trade and recover an estimated Rs 21,000 crore annually in lost tax revenues.

Yet, while this reform is bold, it risks missing the mark by focusing primarily on the factory floor—too late in the supply chain to capture the vast informal tobacco economy that dominates India's market.

The reality is stark: most tobacco in India never reaches formal manufacturing before it is traded.

Bidis alone account for 81% of smoked tobacco use, yet 95% of bidi units remain unregistered.

Smokeless tobacco products, made by thousands of micro-units operating largely off the books, escape regulatory oversight and taxation.

Trying to regulate tobacco only at the point of packaging is like building a dam at the river's delta—ignoring the leaks upstream where the real value and risks lie.

If India truly wants to modernize its tobacco economy, the traceability journey must begin where the tobacco is grown—in the fields of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra, and beyond.

Fortunately, India already possesses the blueprint for such reform.

Agricultural export sectors have successfully implemented end-to-end traceability systems that track produce from farm to port, helping meet stringent global standards and command premium prices.

Platforms like APEDA's Grapenet and private initiatives such as INI Farms' QR-coded fruit demonstrate how technology can bring transparency, improve price discovery, and formalize informal producers.

India's tobacco traceability reform cannot succeed without fully leveraging the transformative potential of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP).

The Sunday Guardian से और कहानियाँ

The Sunday Guardian

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THREATS TO RUIN FUTURE: EX-STUDENT REVEALS HOW DELHI GODMAN SUBJECTED FEMALE STUDENTS TO SEXUAL ABUSE

A red Volvo with a \"UN\" number plate, a BMW, a fake visiting card of \"permanent ambassador of UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)\"-Swami Chaitanyananda Saraswati had built around himself a larger-than-life aura and knew how to show off in elite circles to project himself as an \"internationally acclaimed writer.\" But none of this corresponded with the reality: he is a serial sexual offender, according to students who have passed from Sri Sharada Institute of Indian Management and Research (SRISIIM), located in Delhi's Vasant Kunj

time to read

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VISA WARS AND THE GREAT BRAIN DRAIN: MAKE INDIA GREAT AGAIN

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CHINA-RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA TRILATERAL ALIGNMENT CHALLENGES LEE JAE-MYUNG

Emerging trilateral ties complicate South Korea's efforts to engage North Korea diplomatically.

time to read

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The Sunday Guardian

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Farewell to MiG-21, India's first supersonic fighter

On 26 September 2025, the skies over Chandigarh fell silent to a sound that had defined Indian air power for more than six decades.

time to read

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The Sunday Guardian

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'Surat-Bilimora section of bullet train project to become operational in 2027'

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the Surat to Bilimora is the first section of the Bullet Train project that will become operational and several new technologies have been introduced into the work on the tracks.

time to read

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The Sunday Guardian

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POLISH DIPLOMAT DEEPENS INDO-POLISH CULTURAL TIES THROUGH ARTISTIC EXCHANGES

Polish Institute New Delhi director champions cinema, music, literature, and heritage collaborations.

time to read

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LOC issued against Pune gangster Nilesh Ghaywal

A Look Out Circular has been issued against notorious Pune gangster Nilesh Ghaywal, who is suspected to have left the country despite facing fresh criminal charges.

time to read

1 mins

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