Health experts slam GST cut on bidis, call it setback to tobacco control

Public health experts and anti-tobacco activists have criticised the GST Council’s decision to cut GST on bidis from 28% to 18%, even as taxes on cigarettes and cigars were raised to 40%. Experts warn this undermines India’s tobacco control efforts.

Hyderabad: Public health experts and anti-tobacco activists on Thursday expressed surprise at the GST Council’s decision to reduce the GST on bidis from 28 percent to 18 per cent. While the GST on cigars, cigarettes, and other tobacco products has been increased from 28 percent to 40 percent, the GST on bidis was, surprisingly, reduced to 18 percent.

Noted public health specialist and anti-tobacco activist Rijo M John expressed regret and surprise over the move. “The move to cut GST on bidis from 28 percent to 18 percent, instead of raising it to 40 percent with other tobacco products, is a huge setback for public health. Bidi smoking is the most common tobacco use in India and carries the highest health burden. I hope that the council reconsiders this,” he posted on X.

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The practice of smoking bidis is entrenched in India. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) from 2016-17 indicated that about 71 million Indian adults were smoking bidis, which translated to 7.7 percent of the adult population in India. In contrast, cigarette smoking is among 4.5 percent of the Indian adult population. It is a known fact that smoking bidis is far more injurious to health, as they deliver three times more carbon monoxide and nicotine and five times more tar than cigarettes.

Taxes on tobacco and related products have been consistently rising for the past several years. Industry watchers were quite surprised that the GST Council went against this trend and decided to reduce the GST on bidis to 18 percent from 28 percent.