India’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Thursday approved the proposal from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to ban foreign direct investment in its tobacco sector, jeopardising plans of Japan Tobacco, BAT and the Altria Group in India. With this ban, India would be the only country in the world to adopt such a stringent move.
The ban would shut the door permanently on Japan Tobacco’s proposal to invest USD100 million into its Indian subsidiary. In India, three major cigarette players dominate the market: ITC with more than 50 percent market share, followed by Godfrey Phillips and VST.
(Source: The Financial Express)