The Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to go ahead with the proposed COTPA Bill saying it will boost the illegal cigarette trade in the country, CNBCTV reported.

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COPTA) Amendment Bill bans the retail sale of loose sticks of cigarettes, prohibits sale of tobacco products to persons under 21, and places controls on in-shop advertising and promotion, amongst other measures.
According to the report, FAIFA said it is appealing to Modi ”to recall the COTPA Amendment Bill as it will be a death knell for Indian FCV tobacco farmers”. The harsh amendments that have been proposed will ”terrorise retailers and traders and they would not want to engage in the sale of legal cigarettes’’, FAIFA President Javare Gowda said adding that as a result, criminal syndicates who have been pushing illegal tobacco will gain ground and will flood the Indian market with illicit cigarettes. Since these illicit cigarettes do not use tobacco produced by Indian farmers, the result would be loss of earnings and livelihood of millions of tobacco farmers who are dependent on the crop in the country, he added.