ITC shares tank up to 15 per cent on cigarette cess hike
GST Council raised the cess on cigarettes to take away an estimated Rs 5,000 crore annual.
New Delhi: Shares of ITC and other tobacco companies today tumbled up to 15 per cent after the GST Council raised the cess on cigarettes.
ITC's scrip plummeted 14.99 per cent to Rs 276.90 on BSE. At NSE, shares of the company nosedived 14.99 per cent to Rs 276.40.
The stock was the worst performer among the Sensex and Nifty components. Among others, Godfrey Phillips India plunged 10.38 per cent and VST Industries tanked 7.31 per cent on BSE.
The GST Council raised the cess on cigarettes to take away an estimated Rs 5,000 crore annual "windfall" manufacturers could have reaped from lower GST rates, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said yesterday.
However, cigarette prices will not change as a result of the increased cess. This was the first meeting of the Council after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was rolled out on July 1.