New Delhi, Jan. 1 -- Cigarettes and other tobacco products are set to become significantly more expensive from February 1, 2026, after the Centre announced a steep hike in excise duties, citing rising public health costs and long-standing revenue leakages in the sector.

In a major policy shift, the Finance Ministry on Wednesday notified a comprehensive overhaul of the excise duty structure for tobacco products, marking the first substantive revision since the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime in 2017.

The changes were announced through a series of notifications issued under the Central Excise Act and the Central Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025.

Under the revised framework, cigarettes will attract additional excise duty ra...