Tobacco stocks tumble; Godfrey Phillips plunges 17%

Shares of cigarette and tobacco product makers tumbled on Thursday, with Godfrey Phillips slumping 17%, after the government notified February 1 as the date from which additional excise duty on tobacco products, and a health cess on pan masala will be levied.The stock of Godfrey Phillips India tanked 17.09% to settle at ₹2,289.65 on the BSE. During the day, it dropped 19.24% to ₹2,230.15.

Shares of ITC

tumbled 9.69% to end at ₹363.95. Intra-day, the stock declined 10% to ₹362.70–its 52-week low.
“Overall advances were capped as FMCG stocks declined following the newly imposed excise duty on cigarettes,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
VST Industries dipped 0.60% to ₹255.15.A health and national security cess and excise duty on pan masala and tobacco products respectively will be over and above 40% Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate, while in case of ‘biris’ it would be on top of the 18% GST rate effective February 1, 2026, as per notifications issued by the Finance Ministry late on December 31, 2025.

A new MRP-based valuation mechanism has been introduced for tobacco products (chewing tobacco, filter khaini, jarda-scented tobacco, gutkha) whereby GST value shall be determined based on the retail sale price declared on the package.

An additional excise duty of 91% on gutkha, 82% on chewing tobacco, and 82% on jarda-scented tobacco will be levied.

Cigarettes, depending on length and filter, will be taxed in the range of ₹2,050-₹8,500 per 1,000 sticks.