NEW DELHI, MARCH 28 :The tobacco farmers of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on Friday demanded rollback of the Government’s decision to increase the excise duty on non-filter cigarettes. The Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss has been trying hard to force people quit smoking and the decision to increase the excise duty is one in this direction.

According to farmers, the proposed move would affect 35 lakh people involved in cultivation of the crop. 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 soon.

“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, Karnataka Tobacco Growers’ Forum.

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.

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