Sitharaman tables two bills to levy cess on tobacco for health, security

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced two bills in the Lok Sabha to levy a cess on tobacco products. The move aims to generate funds for national security and public health, but faced opposition from MPs over state-sharing and citizen burden.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced two bills in Lok Sabha on Monday, the first day of the Winter session of Parliament, aimed at levying cess on tobacco products and their manufacturing.

Minister Sitharaman introduced the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025, in Lok Sabha, soon after the Parliament convened after a brief adjournment till noon.

According to the minister, "It will augment the resources of for meeting expenditure on national security and for public health, and to levy a cess for the said purposes on the machines installed or other processes undertaken by which specified goods are manufactured or produced, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

Opposition Voices Concerns Over New Bills

Sougata Roy, AITC MP, opposed the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, stating that the Bill does not mention the dangers of tobacco on packets, and the government only seeks to attract excise duty from such products.

Sougata Roy, AITC MP, also opposed the introduction of the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025, noting that he is against imposing any cess that would not be shared with states, termed the bill ambiguous, and added it lacked information about the dangers of tobacco products.

DM Kathir Anand, DMK MP, objected to the Health Security se National Security Cess Bill, 2025, noting that the Bill appears technically sound but imposes a severe financial burden on the ordinary citizens of India.

Winter Session Legislative Agenda

The government has listed a total of 13 Bills for consideration during the Winter Session, many of which have not been examined by a Standing Committee.

The other legislative proposals likely to be taken up this Winter session include the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025; the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2025; the National Highways (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Atomic Energy Bill, 2025; the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Securities Markets Code Bill (SMC), 2025; the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2025; and the Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2025.

As per the schedule, the Winter session of Parliament will continue till December 19, 2025.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)