India is expecting a substantial rise in the prices of cigarettes following the passage of the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 by the Parliament. The proposed bill by Pankaj Chaudhary, the Finance Minister, changes the taxation on a wide variety of tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco.

At the moment, the excise tax on cigarettes is divided into four classes based on the length and nature of the cigarette. The prices range from ₹200 to ₹735 for every 1,000 sticks. The proposed amendment advises a strikingly high rise in these rates up to the range of ₹2,700 to ₹11,000 for every 1,000 sticks. The officials consider that a cigarette that costs ₹18 today may soon be valued at ₹72.

The proposed changes in the law also include heavy taxation on other tobacco products. The tax on chewing tobacco will be increased four times from 25 per cent to 100 per cent, hookah tobacco will see a rise from 25 per cent to 40 per cent, while smoking mixtures may have their tax increased from 60 per cent to 300 per cent, which involves a five times increase.

This measure has stirred a lot of discussions online, with people’s views being either for or against it. Some were quite liberal about the ruling and predicted that the smokers could possibly give up smoking if the prices kept on increasing to such a high level. One of the Reddit users said, “As a smoker myself, I like this decision. I might be able to quit as well.”

Others, however, questioned whether higher prices would actually reduce consumption. “Smokers are desperate and this change will not affect many of us,” another user commented. A section of users criticised the move as excessive government intervention, calling it a “Big Brother” approach.

In addition, there were sarcastic and lighter reactions with some making jokes about changing to bidis or living on dirty city air. The discussion of the steep tax increases as a means to control tobacco use or as a mere transfer of the cost to the consumers continues as the bill goes through the process of becoming law.