Ongole: The members of the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) took out a rally of protest in Ongole on Saturday. They raised concerns over the sharp increase in excise duty on tobacco products, warning that it will severely impact millions of farmers across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Gujarat.

The Ministry of Finance recently notified excise duties ranging from Rs 2050 to 8500 per thousand cigarette sticks, depending on length, effective from February first. FAIFA President PS Murali Babu expressed shock that this contradicts the government’s earlier assurance of a revenue-neutral transition when announcing GST reforms in September 2025.

The federation argues that FCV tobacco farmers from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka already face discriminatory taxation, with cigarettes taxed over fifty times more per kilogram than bidis and thirty times more than chewing tobacco. The new hike will widen this gap further, making legal cigarettes increasingly unaffordable and pushing consumers toward smuggled products.

FAIFA points out that India has become the fourth-largest illicit cigarette market globally, with illegal products comprising roughly 26 percent of total consumption. The farming sector has already experienced a sharp decline, with cultivation area dropping from 2.21 lakh hectares in 2013 to 1.22 lakh hectares in 2020, resulting in an estimated loss of 35 million employment days.

The federation has urged the government to roll back the excessive tax increase and issue revenue-neutral rates to protect farmer livelihoods while discouraging smuggling and supporting domestic agriculture.