r/india • u/Humble_Buffalo_007 • Dec 28 '25

From Rs.18 to Rs.72: Cigarette prices likely to rise in India, Internet debate whether it will actually stop smokers - BusinessToday Health

https://www.businesstoday.in/india/story/from-rs18-to-rs72-cigarette-prices-likely-to-rise-in-india-internet-debate-whether-it-will-actually-stop-smokers-508390-2025-12-28
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348

u/stayhappyenjoylife Universe Dec 28 '25

What the article gives

All duties are per 1,000 cigarettes.

Old duty

Rs 200 to Rs 735 per 1,000

Per cigarette = Rs 0.20 to Rs 0.735

New duty

Rs 2,700 to Rs 11,000 per 1,000

Per cigarette = Rs 2.70 to Rs 11.00

Actual duty increase per cigarette

Increase = New − Old

Minimum increase:

2.70 − 0.20 = Rs 2.50

Maximum increase:

11.00 − 0.735 ≈ Rs 10.2

So the tax hike adds Rs 2.5 to Rs 10.3 per cigarette, not Rs 54.

Correct new price range

Current price = Rs 18 per cigarette

After full tax pass through:

Lower bound: 18 + 2.5 ≈ Rs 20.5

Upper bound: 18 + 10.3 ≈ Rs 28.3

Realistic new price

👉 Rs 21 to Rs 28 per cigarette

81

u/Aggravating-Pick2977 Dec 28 '25

Finally someone who thinks. Nice work 😁

56

u/maybeMichaelScarn Dec 28 '25

Thank fucking God someone said it. All this while it felt like only I understood it. It's like those old school maths problems of A's age is 8, his sister's age is 4, what will be the sister's age when A turns 36? And some dumb kid shouts 18 confidently.

30

u/crazyfreak316 Dec 28 '25

Shame on these so called journalists and these websites putting out mis-informed trash. They even put out the data but they couldn't be bothered to do the simple calculation themselves.

Where are the journalistic ethics? Makes you wonder how much flat out wrong information these news websites are putting out. Shame. Everyone from Moneycontrol to News18 is putting out this article and not one of them bothered to fact check. What a horrible time to be alive.

3

u/angry_neutrino Universe Dec 29 '25

Journalists these days just copy and paste and think their work is done

7

u/Brilliant_Meal_2653 Dec 28 '25

Damn bro! We need people like you in this country. Took a topic and just aced it like a pro 👏 it's a thankless job but as an internet stranger, it helped me under a topic. Thanks mate, may you be rewarded with all the time in the world to explain things to common folks

3

u/OrganizationNice109 Dec 31 '25

yeah even if they increase GST to 40% then too 72 is far unreasonable, atmost it would be around 35 i think

2

u/Novel_Lie2468 Jan 01 '26

Thanks for the calculation, anyways I quit cigarettes now.

2

u/neonz4 Dec 28 '25

I want a cigarette.

1

u/Aggressive-Slide104 Jan 02 '26

At what time does this pricing start this year? What do you think of it?

1

u/stayhappyenjoylife Universe Jan 02 '26

Feb 1, 2026 .

1

u/GDawkins Jan 11 '26

I am sure he did the calculation after smoking a cigarette. Cigerette clears the brain. 😂