Post Budget: Cigarettes stocks trade in the green

The cigarettes stock surged sharply post the budget. The shares of ITC, Godfrey Phillip, VST, Kothari Product, Golden Tobacco and NTC industries are trading in the green and are up in the range of 1.94 per cent to 6.27 per cent.
 
Golden Tobacco is the highest gainer, followed by ITC which is the largest contributor to the Sensex gain. The cigarette stocks surged as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the hike in the excise duty on various lengths of cigarettes by 2.5 per cetn. Now the current excise duty will be 6 per cent.
 
These developments also indicate that the cigarettes manufacturers will pass on the cost to the end consumer.  In the past few years, the excise duty has been constantly increasing, which in turn has resulted in increase in the prices of cigarettes.