Parliament on Thursday approved the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 that will levy higher excise duty on tobacco products once the GST compensation cess ends, with the Rajya Sabha returning the legislation to the Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on Wednesday.

During a discussion, many Opposition members said that revenue collected from the cess is unlikely to be shared equally and transparently with the states. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied that the current discussion was on excise duty that would be shared with the states as per the recommendation of the Finance Commission.

“This is excise duty, not cess, we will talk about cess tomorrow or day after whenever it comes. This excise duty by its very nature will join the taxable pool and will be devolved

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