Finance Ministry Tables Bill To Hike Excise On Tobacco, Introduces New Cess On Pan Masala

On December 1, 2025, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Health Security and National Security Cess Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, which will replace the existing Compensation Cess. The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks “to give the government the fiscal space to increase the rate of central excise duty...