A health and national security cess and excise duty on pan masala and tobacco products respectively will be over and above 40 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate, while in case of ‘biris’ it would be on top of the 18 per cent GST rate effective February 1, 2026

TMC Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of misleading the House on West Bengal during the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 debate. The party staged a walkout, calling it a “murder of constitutional democracy”