The Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025 introduces a comprehensive overhaul of the excise duty structure applicable to tobacco, manufactured tobacco products, and emerging nicotine-based alternatives. The amendment modifies the Fourth Schedule of the Central Excise Act, 1944, substituting the existing tariff table under Section IV with a newly structured rate framework.
The revised schedule standardises and, in many cases, significantly increases excise duties across a wide spectrum of products ranging from unmanufactured tobacco and cigarettes to hookah tobacco, biris, smoking mixtures, chewing tobacco, jarda, snuff, and reconstituted tobacco. Notably, the amendment also introduces explicit classifications and duty rates for products intended for nicotine intake without combustion, including inhalation and oral/transdermal applications, reflecting the regulatory expansion to cover modern nicotine delivery systems.
Tariff Item | Description of Goods | Unit | Revised Duty |
2401 10 10 | Flue cured Virginia tobacco (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 10 20 | Sun cured country (natu) tobacco (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 10 30 | Sun cured Virginia tobacco (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 10 40 | Burley tobacco (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 10 50 | Tobacco for biris (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 10 60 | Tobacco for chewing tobacco | kg | 70% |
2401 10 70 | Tobacco for cigars/cheroots | kg | 70% |
2401 10 80 | Tobacco for hookah tobacco | kg | 70% |
2401 10 90 | Others (not stemmed) | kg | 70% |
2401 20 10–90 | All stemmed/stripped tobacco categories | kg | 70% |
2401 30 00 | Tobacco refuse | kg | 60% |
2402 10 10 | Cigars & cheroots | Tu | 25% or ₹5,000/1000 (higher) |
2402 10 20 | Cigarillos | Tu | 25% or ₹5,000/1000 (higher) |
2402 20 10 | Cigarettes ≤65 mm (non-filter) | Tu | ₹2,700 per 1000 |
2402 20 20 | Cigarettes 65–70 mm (non-filter) | Tu | ₹4,500 per 1000 |
2402 20 30 | Filter cigarettes ≤65 mm | Tu | ₹3,000 per 1000 |
2402 20 40 | Filter cigarettes 65–70 mm | Tu | ₹5,200 per 1000 |
2402 20 50 | Filter cigarettes 70–75 mm | Tu | ₹7,000 per 1000 |
2402 20 90 | Other cigarettes | Tu | ₹11,000 per 1000 |
2402 90 10 | Cigarettes of tobacco substitutes | Tu | ₹5,000 per 1000 |
2402 90 20 | Cigarillos of tobacco substitutes | Tu | 14% or ₹5,000/1000 (higher) |
2402 90 90 | Other substitute products | Tu | 14% or ₹5,000/1000 (higher) |
2403 11 10 | Hookah/Gudaku tobacco | kg | 40% |
2403 11 90 | Other water-pipe tobacco | kg | 40% |
2403 19 10 | Smoking mixtures for pipes/cigarettes | kg | 325% |
2403 19 21 | Biris (non-machine) | Tu | 10% |
2403 19 29 | Other biris | Tu | 10% |
2403 19 90 | Other smoking tobacco | kg | 22% |
2403 91 00 | Reconstituted/homogenised tobacco | kg | 70% |
2403 99 10 | Chewing tobacco | kg | 100% |
2403 99 20 | Preparations containing chewing tobacco | kg | 100% |
2403 99 30 | Jarda scented tobacco | kg | 100% |
2403 99 40 | Snuff | kg | 70% |
2403 99 50 | Preparations containing snuff | kg | 70% |
2403 99 60 | Tobacco extracts & essences | kg | 70% |
2403 99 70 | Cut tobacco | kg | 10% |
2403 99 90 | Other manufactured tobacco | kg | 125% |
2404 11 00 | Products for inhalation w/o combustion (with tobacco) | kg | 100% |
2404 12 00 | Other inhalation products containing nicotine | kg | Rate not specified in extract |
2404 19 00 | Other inhalation products | kg | 100% |
2404 91 00 | Oral nicotine application products | kg | Rate not specified |
2404 92 00 | Transdermal nicotine application products | kg | Rate not specified |
2404 99 00 | Other nicotine products | kg | Rate not specified |
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