Cigarettes to cost more; dosa, idli cheaper

New Delhi, Feb 28 (UNI) Every drag of the 'cancer stick' -- cigarette and bidi -- will now become costlier while health-giving south Indian delicacies idli and dosa, which have made tremendous inroads into kitchens across the country, are going to become cheaper.

In the Budget 2007-08, introduced by Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha today, excise duty on all kinds of food mixes, including instant mixes, is proposed to be withdrawn.

''I can no longer be accused of being partial to idli and dosa mixes,'' Mr Chidambaram said, in a lighter vein.

Asserting that he strongly supported the ''say no to tobacco'' campaign, the minister proposed to increase the specific rates of excise duty on cigarettes by about five per cent.

Similarly, excise duty (excluding cess on bidis, which was last fixed in 2001, will be raised from Rs seven to Rs 11 per thousand for non-machine made bidis and, from Rs 17 to Rs 24 per thousand for machine made bidis.

''There is an exemption from excise duty for unbranded bidis up to 20 lakh bidis in a year. Complaints have been received on misuse of the exemption. This exemption will henceforth be available subject to fulfilment of the condition of declaration with the Department of Central Excise and reuglar monitoring,'' he announced.

Biscuit, another eatable that finds a place in all kinds of homes, will also become cheaper. The minister has proposed to fully exempt biscuits, whose retail sale price does not exceed Rs 50 per kg, from excise duty.

There is also a good news for cat and dog lovers. The duty on pet foods is proposed to be reduced from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.

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